We Are Grounders
by SoftCannons
Summary: Clarke Griffin was sent to Earth on a one-man mission to prove it was inhabitable. After losing her bracelet's transmission, all hope had seemed lost for the people of the Ark. Eight months later, the remaining 99 prisoners were sent down to try their luck once more. To their surprise, Clarke is very much alive. Their chance of survival now rests in her and Bellamy Blake's hands.
1. Chapter 1

1.

The trumpeting sound of a distant horn echoed throughout the forest. A flash of blonde immediately began to dodge in and out of the trees. The green cloud drew closer and closer. She saw the birds flying in the same direction as her, the rats, squirrels, and insects scuttling along at her feet. Her heart pounded in her chest and she couldn't help but smile. She loved the rush.

Clarke took cover in her bunker that had been put there by some doomsday-prepper some 100 years ago. She'd stumbled upon it the first week she landed on Earth. Inside she had found furniture, beds, battery-powered lanterns, paints, brushes, and other wonderful treasures. She knew right away that this would be her home.

She adjusted the metal bracelet on her wrist and continued to swipe the brush back and forth on the canvas. She's always been fascinated with nature, and now that she was living in the middle of it all, she couldn't resist painting replicas of all the trees, rivers, and flowers. Her drawings, sketches, and paintings hung all over the small room, even the ones she'd messed up. She couldn't bear to waste art supplies- there was only so much. She hadn't noticed how hungry she was until her stomach growled. She grabbed her bow and quiver from next to the ladder and made her way up the ladder and out the hatch.

The only things the Ark had given her on the drop-ship was a six-inch knife, which she carried with her everywhere (she even slept with it under her pillow- holstered of course), a change of clothes, a pathetic first-aid kit, and a week supply of rations. She had run out of rations in under the promised seven days, so she was forced to find some other way of finding food. It took her about a month to get the bow just right, as it never seemed to have the right elasticity. She nearly starved to death that month, but when she shot roasted her first squirrel, she'd never been prouder.

She trekked through the woods with an arrow resting in the knocking point, careful not to step on any twigs or leaves that could scare away her prey. Just the month before, she'd built a deer stand right next to a worn path that led to the river. Deer were such interesting creatures to her. They had a way of sensing danger, even if it was twenty-five feet above their heads. As soon as she'd drawn her bow, they'd always perk their ears up and flash the white underside of their tail to warn the rest of their herd. But it was always too late.

Clarke had always been afraid of heights, but she had to do whatever she could to survive. Her knuckles whitened as her hands gripped the ladder. She refused to look down, even though she knew she was only about ten feet off the ground; it felt like 100. She swallowed the lump of pathetic nerves forming in her throat and continued to climb. She was almost to the top when she heard it.

The crashing sound of tree trunks snapping in half and being pulled from the ground startled her so much, that she almost lost her balance on the ladder. _What the fuck was that?_ The ferocity of the sound indicated that whatever it was, it was far too big to be some kind of animal or Grounder. _Could it be…?_

Clarke nearly jumped off the ladder and sprinted toward the source of the sound. She hurtled over downed logs ducked under low branches. At this point, she could have navigated these woods in her sleep.

She soon saw movement through the trees and began to hear voices- happy voices. _Oh my, God._ She ducked behind a tree trunk as she watched the group of teenagers rejoice in the middle of the woods near the downed drop ship. _You're being too loud. They'll come for you._

A little over eight months ago Clarke Griffin was sent on a one-man mission to Earth to discover if it was inhabitable. She had volunteered to go as a lone test subject once her mother had told her what the council was planning on doing. Their original plan was to send every last teenage criminal down to Earth, even if it meant their certain death. They were expendable in the council's eyes, but not in Clarke's. She was one of them, and although they hated her for being the privileged daughter of two council members, she had lost just as much as most of them had. She felt she owed it to them.

The Ark must have received the signal from her bracelet- these were the other criminals. The other 99 teenage delinquents had finally joined her on this Godforsaken planet. She grinned and tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. She sank to her knees and covered her face in her hands. _Finally. FINALLY! I can do this. I'm not going to die alone._ She turned her gaze toward the sky, toward the Ark. _We are the hundred and you will not kill us today._


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for reading! I will try to post as regularly as I can, but I do have a life (sometimes). Please let me know what you think- I'm open to constructive criticism and maybe even a few suggestions.**

2.

Clarke didn't understand why she didn't approach the ship. Maybe it was because she was scared. Or maybe she just thought it was too good to be true. Whatever the reason, she spent another night in her bunker, alone.

By morning, she'd begun to grow anxious. She didn't sleep as a result of the hunger pangs and sense of anxiety she'd experienced all night long. She definitely regretted not going hunting the night before, but it was already dark by the time she got back to her shelter. She had learnt a thing or two about staying out at night.

Her first encounter with the Grounders was... interesting to say the least. The one chasing her gave her a scar on her shoulder, but she was able to escape by what seem was the grace of God at the time. She never figured out how she got away that day. She just kept running and running and running until the arrow fire stopped and the crashing of footsteps behind her ceased.

Clarke had since watched them from afar, studying them. They moved throughout the land a certain way that she could never grasp. They loved their territory and they knew it better than she thought they knew their own reflection. She was sure to stay away from their known hunting sites.

The first thing she did instead of gather water for the day, was pack up her knife, bow, and quiver and travel to the drop ship. She was possessed with the thought of meeting them all as she'd lived for eight months in complete solitude. Her only thoughts consisted of the fact that she was not alone on this horrible planet anymore. Maybe they had a radio to contact her mother. Maybe she was already on her way. _Maybe…_

She saw it once more, standing erect like a skyscraper in the middle of the dense woods. The drop ship had to be more than 150 feet high. It was a massive hunk of metal, and it was certainly going to attract some unwanted attention from the Grounders, or maybe even the men in suits. But she didn't care. Just by looking at it she felt safe. She felt at home.

Clarke nearly made it to the small clearing where the ship had impacted until she felt a presence behind her. She whirled around, whipping out an arrow and drawing her bow, only to find herself staring down the barrel of a gun.


	3. Chapter 3

**I wrote the first four chapters in one sitting, so hopefully there muti-chapter uploads will continue to be a thing. Anyways, review away! And please excuse any typos. Nobody's perfect.**

3.

A pair of dark brown eyes glared at her behind the sights of the pistol. Freckles peppered the man's face, emphasizing his apparent youth.

"You're supposed to be dead," he snarled at Clarke. She saw two of his companions emerge behind each of his shoulders.

"You know who I am?" Clarke said. She lowered her bow, as the arrow was still aimed right at his throat.

"How could I forget _you_ , Princess? You're Clarke Griffin. They said they sent you down last year and lost your bracelet's transmission a few days later. It was heartbreaking." The sarcasm in his voice took Clarke by surprise.

"Well, sorry to disappoint," she snapped. Her eyes glanced back to the gun. "So, are you going to shoot me or something?"

"Maybe."

"Why?"

"I don't like you very much."

"I hadn't gathered that."

The man smirked. "Drop the bow and turn around."

Clarke rolled her eyes and threw her weapon to the ground. She was immediately thrown down by a pair of rough hands. Her arms were wrestled behind her back and her hands were bound with some kind of rope and she felt her knife holster be unclipped from her belt.

"Ow. That was rude," she said.

"Oops."

The man dragged her to the middle of the camp. Clarke heard nothing but interesting whispers amongst the growing crowd.

"That's the Griffin girl," she heard a voice say. She stood there, frantically searching for familiar faces but she saw none. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and turned to the man who captured her.

"Do you know who this is?" he started, "This is Clarke Griffin. She represents everything that we have gotten away from on that repulsive fucking spaceship. Do you want that here too? All the unfairness, all the oppression, all the privilege? I sure don't."

A few shook their heads in agreement.

"What should we do with her then, huh? This big-shot councilwoman's daughter?"

"Kill her!" someone said.

"Throw her out!"

"Banish her!"

"Wait, stop!" Clarke whipped her head to the left. _Holy shit._

A face emerged from the crowd. A familiar face. _Wells._

Her eyes widened with shock. He hadn't changed at all since she'd last seen him. His face was full of fear and as he stared at Clarke.

"Bellamy, wait. She can help us," he said. "She knows the land. She knows where we can find food and water."

"We can figure that out without her, Jaha," Bellamy, her captor, said.

"But she knows things that will take us weeks to find out! There's a reason she's survived this long. Plus, her mom was a doctor. She knows about medicine."

"I have some information you might want, your highness," Clarke turned to Bellamy and said mockingly. "We aren't alone on this planet."

Bellamy narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Clarke grinned and let out a devilish chuckle. "Oh, you'll see."

Clarke stared the man's angry eyes once more. He had taken her to the second floor of the drop ship and chained her hands to a support beam. He had tried to intimidate the information out of her, but he'd only come up empty handed. Clarke knew that if she gave anything up, she'd be dead.

"Bellamy is it?" she said. "Look, you need me. I don't know everything about this planet, but I sure know a hell of a lot. I can and I will help you. I can teach you all how to hunt and what berries to eat and which ones will make your eyes melt out of your head. I've observed the Grounders. I've learned from them. They've been here all this time. It's incredible."

"Are they dangerous?" he asked.

"Very."

"And you know where they are camped?"

"Well, not exactly. I do know where they go and don't go and _why_ they go certain places, but avoid others. I haven't just been sitting down here doing my nails this whole time."

Bellamy stared at her, cautiously. He wanted to give his people what they wanted. He was their leader, and he certainly didn't have any reservations about Clarke's life. He despised the council and what they did to his mother and sister.

But he knew they needed Clarke. There was no way he could keep 99 people alive without a proper plan. If he couldn't keep everyone alive, how could he expect to remain leader? And if something happened to Octavia, he'd never forgive himself. He sighed and glanced down at his feet.

"I'm going to let you help us," he said and Clarke visibly relaxed. "But I swear to God, Clarke, one wrong move and I'll send you back into those woods faster than you could get sucked out of an airlock. Understood?"

She nodded. "Of course, your highness." _This is going to be fun._


	4. Chapter 4

**Again, thank you for reading- I hope you like it so far! Let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions, and blah, blah, blah.**

4.

Bellamy led her out of the drop ship and back into the center of the crowd. Angry jeers were shouted at Clarke. Someone even threw something at her. But Bellamy stepped in front of her, shielding her from the angry crowd.

"Clarke is going to help us. She knows the land better than anyone. If anyone has a problem with that, they can have a man-to-man chat with me. I'll be in my tent." With that, the crowd had silenced and he disappeared under a flap of fabric. As the crowd began to disperse, Clarke found herself scanning 99 faces for just one in particular.

"Clarke."

She turned around. "Wells."

"Clarke… I-," she cut him off. His eyes sank to his feet.

"Thank you for what you did back there. But that doesn't change anything."

"I though you were dead," he said, his voice breaking. He met her sapphire glare with a glossy, tearful gaze. "Everyone did. Even your mom. She tried to convince herself you'd made it, that your bracelet malfunctioned or something…"

"Well, here I am. I'm not dead."

"Clarke, I'm s-,"

"Stop. Honestly, just stop. I want to forgive you, I do. But what you did is unforgivable." She turned and went to find Bellamy.

She found him in a tent, lying on his bed and playing with his gun. When he noticed her barge in, he scrambled to his feet.

"Who the hell gave you permission to come in here?" he accused.

"I let myself in. Do you have a radio to contact the Ark?"

He shook his head. "It got busted on impact."

"Damn it," she ran a hand through her tangled hair _._ "Same thing happened to mine. Oh well. So, you want to find out where clean water is?"

He nodded and started toward the curtain. "Let me get a crew together."

"Can I have my bow and knife back?"

He smirked over his shoulder. "Not a chance." She rolled her eyes and followed him out of the room. "Murphy, Miller, Atom, Spacewalker- uh, Finn, each of you grab someone and as many canteens as you can find. Be back here in five. The rest of you set up a perimeter and start building a wall out of the wreckage and whatever else you can find."

"Bellamy!" a girl popped out of the ship. Her brown hair swung over her shoulders, framing her face almost perfectly. Despite her stunning appearance, Clarke figured her to only be about 16.

"Octavia, stay here," Bellamy commanded.

"Sorry, not going to happen, big brother," she said as she crossed her arms.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Stay here and help build the wall. I'm serious."

"So am I," she took a step closer so that she was only inches from his face. "Do I really have to remind you where I spent the last sixteen years of my life? I deserve a little freedom."

Bellamy clenched his jaw in annoyance. "I swear, if you so much as step out of my sight for a _minute_ …"

Octavia squealed with delight and Clarke smirked at their exchange.

When the group of 12 had gathered with a total of nine canteens each, Clarke led them through a labyrinth of trees, logs, dried up creek beds, and other wonderfully placed obstacles. She had no problem making her way through the terrain, but since the rest of the crew didn't spend eight months on Earth yet, they were at a disadvantage. Clarke figured that they must have snapped every branch and twig in the entire forest.

"Guys, watch where you step," she finally snapped. "You're making too much noise."

Their footsteps got quieter, but it still sounded as if they were a train, roaring through the woods. Clarke quietly rolled her eyes and sighed. She figured they would learn eventually.

They finally reached a clearing where they could see a glistening body of water in front of them. When the one called Murphy tried to rush passed them and out of the tree line, Clarke caught his arm.

"Are you crazy?" she hissed. "They could be here." Although it had already passed the time the Grounders usually came to get water, you could never be too cautious in this place. Clarke scanned the opposite bank and tree line for any sign of movement. When she was sure she didn't see any, she turned to Bellamy. "Stay here."

With that, she took off toward the river, unscrewing a container as she ran. As soon as she reached the bank, she plunged the canteen into to the water, filling it to the brim. As one hand filled, the other unscrewed the lids of empty ones, and re-screwed the ones that were full. The group watched her work; she was functioning like a machine. In less than two minutes, she had filled all nine of her containers and she trotted, weighed down by the water, back to the group.

"Okay," she said when she reached them, breathing heavy. "Did you all see that? How quick I was? That's how it has to be, got it? Okay, Octavia hand me your canteens. Bellamy, bring yours. You're coming with me."

Octavia reluctantly slung the straps of her containers onto Clarke's arm. Clarke had noticed Bellamy's concern for his sister before they'd left. She figured she'd help him out with this one. Bellamy glanced at the pair of them. He seemed to understand.

He followed Clarke back to the bank, and he began to work as quickly as he could. Unscrewing, filling, unscrewing again, re-screwing, filling, unscrewing, and so on. By the time he had filled all but two canteens, Clarke had finished all hers. She filled the last one for him, and they took off back to the tree line.

Clarke told them that the best way to work was in pairs. That way, they're draw less attention than if there were twelve of them out in the open at once. Two, by two, they followed her and Bellamy's lead. Clarke and Bellamy crouched next to each other behind a thick bush, watching as the others worked to fill their canteens.

Neither of them noticed Octavia tiptoe away from them. Not until it was too late.

Clarke saw her first, just as the last two fillers were finishing up. Octavia was taking off her t-shirt and cargo pants, revealing a dark red sports bra and black spandex underwear. She started jogging toward the river. "Shit," Clarke whispered.

Bellamy followed Clarke's line of sight and she felt him tense up next to her. He started to get up, but she pushed him back and ran after Octavia. "Stay hidden." She shot a look back at him.

She was too late. Octavia did a swan dive into the river and for a good five seconds she didn't come up for air. Clarke reached the riverbank, breathless. Suddenly, a girl burst out of the water, laughing.

"Oh, God, this is amazing!" she exclaimed as she paddled through the water, further away from land.

"Octavia, get out," Clarke demanded.

"Relax, I'm just having a bit of fun."

"No, seriously get out. There are things that will eat you as an appetizer in there." Octavia ignored her and continued swimming. Then Clarke saw it. "Octavia! Get out!"

A dark shadow from beneath the water was slowly approaching the swimming girl. Octavia's head turned toward where Clarke was looking and she screamed. The shadow began to move faster, a current of water rushing behind it. She began frantically paddle to the bank.

"Octavia!" Clarke heard Bellamy shout as he burst out of the tree line, but Clarke was quicker to react. She dove in after Octavia and was able to propel her toward the bank. Bellamy hoisted her onto dry land and dragged her as far away as possible. He looked back up to help Clarke, but the blonde head was nowhere to be found.


	5. Chapter 5

**So if you haven't figured it out yet, I've intentionally tried to write Clarke to be a bit more of a risk-taker than she is on the show. (I think she deserves a more of a fearless persona that has yet to be revealed Mr. Jason Rothenberg.) My version of Clarke is a badass-warrior-princess that will do anything to help her friends, and while that's who she is on the show as well, I'm trying to bring out a more daring side of her. My version of her also has a really smart mouth and dark-sarcastic sense of humor which is a blast to write for. You're going to see a lot of BAMF Clarke, but not to worry, she has a soft side too.**

 **Again, let me know what you think! I've loved the response so far.**

 **morgzorg: Thank you! That's so nice of you :) This is the first fic I've written, so that's very good to hear.**

5.

Bellamy scanned the surface of the river. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears as the rush of adrenaline subsided. He held his sister as far away from the water as possible and she clutched to him like he was her lifeline.

"Clarke!" Bellamy called out.

No answer.

A minute must have gone by until he heard splashing and coughing coming from up stream. He immediately began sprinting toward the noise. A sputtering Clarke had managed to kick herself free and was struggling to swim ashore. She looked injured. Bellamy gasped as he saw another rush of water speeding after Clarke. He called her name again.

"Clarke! Catch!" He threw her holstered blade to her and she caught it in her left hand. She quickly drew it and turned her body to face the monster. A dorsal fin stuck out of the water behind its jaws as it began to surface. It was coming at her faster than she'd expected. She quickly moved to one side just as it was going to engulf her, but it thrashed toward her, knocking her back under the water.

Bellamy watched on in horror. The only thing he could do was shield Octavia from the scene. With each move by either Clarke or the monster, the surface of the water was disturbed, so much so that he couldn't witness what was happening just a few feet below the surface. When the water suddenly calmed, Bellamy slowly approached the bank. A shadow suddenly began to move toward land where he was standing. He quickly backed away and drew his pistol.

Clarke's blonde head suddenly popped up next to the massive figure. She was coughing again, trying to get water out of her lungs and regain her breath as best she could. She slung creature partially onto the shoreline and Bellamy rushed to help her climb out of the water.

She was exhausted and injured badly. Bellamy noticed her bloody leg and forearm and she immediately collapsed in his arms. "Anyone like seafood?" She smiled and began to chuckle at her own joke.

Underwater, she had somehow been able to sneak her arm in between the creature's jaws and plunge her blade into the roof of its mouth as it attacked her, instantly killing it. Bellamy, still stunned by the events of the attack, helped ease her on the ground and took off his jacket to place around the wound on her lower leg. It was a nasty gash, probably where the monster had grabbed her and dragged her under. She winced as he applied pressure to her leg, gripping her lower leg just above the wound.

"What the hell was that thing?" Bellamy murmured in astonishment.

"Some kind of freshwater shark. It was probably mutated from radiation a long time ago. How's Octavia? Is she hurt?"

"She's fine. How did you know that would work?" Bellamy noticed the blade's hilt sticking out of the shark's mouth.

"I didn't," Clarke responded, glancing up at him.

He cleared his throat. "That was… uh, thank you for saving my sister. I don't know how I can repay you for that."

"You can start by letting me keep my knife and my bow."

He smirked. "Fine. Oh, wow, you're losing a lot of blood."

"Damn it," she rolled her eyes. "Do you have a lighter or a flint or something? And we need to get that thing out of the water. More will come. They're attracted to blood."

"Octavia, grab my pack and see if there's a lighter in there. Tell Finn to come down here, but tell the rest to stay hidden in the trees. We're sitting ducks out here."

Octavia nodded and took off towards the others.

"Get my knife," Clarke commanded of Bellamy.

He did as he was asked and retrieved the blade from the shark's brain. He began to examine it. Under the blood of the beast it had just slain, there were what looked to be hand-graved initials just above the leather handle: "J.G."

He strode back to to Clarke when he saw Octavia and Finn return with his pack.

"Here," Octavia handed Bellamy a large metal lighter.

Bellamy turned to Clarke and she began unwrapping his jacket from her leg. "What now?"

"You're going to cauterize the wound."

"What? No way!"

"Bellamy, I'm going to bleed out right here if you don't do this for me. So grow a pair and let's get to it. You two, get that thing onto shore. We can take it back to camp and have ourselves a fish fry tonight." Bellamy gulped and took the blade back from Clarke. Octavia and Finn began to drag the shark carcass onto shore and back to the tree line.

He clicked the lighter so that there was a small flame spouting out the top. He rinsed the blood off the blade in the water and began to slowly move it over the flame. He was terrified.

"Make it quick, will you? I'm starting to see spots," Clarke was only half joking. She took Bellamy's jacket and began to wind the sleeve so that she could bite down on while Bellamy burned the wound. She's only done this to herself one other time, and she remembered debating whether the pain was worth it or not.

As soon as Bellamy got the blade hot enough, he knelt next to the bleeding girl. He took in a sharp breath. "Ready?"

"Nope," she sighed. "Just hold it down and count to fifteen, okay?" Clarke closed her eyes and swallowed her rising panic as took the jacket sleeve between her teeth.

The pain was greater than she thought. She tried to bite back a scream as soon as her skin began to burn under the metal, but she couldn't help herself. Bellamy winced and held his breath as he pinned her leg in place and cooked her skin under the blade. More sweat and tears immediately started flowing down Clarke's face. Bellamy looked into her painful blue eyes and he wanted to stop right then. He couldn't take it. She was hurting too much.

She must have saw it in his face because she shook her head and growled through the jacket's fabric, "Don't stop."

Those fifteen seconds felt like fifteen hours and as soon as they were up, Clarke relaxed and Bellamy let out a breath. The wound was beginning to grow numb, but that particular burning sensation would always be in the back of her mind, haunting her. Bellamy crouched over her face and pulled the jacket from her mouth.

"Are you okay?" He asked. He felt guilty for hurting her so much, but he reminded himself he'd just saved her life.

"Never better." Clarke winced as she sat up. She propped herself on Bellamy's should and hoisted herself to a standing position. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

Bellamy helped her limp back to the woods where she grabbed her canteens and led the way back to camp.


	6. Chapter 6

**One thing I will try to do is never leave off with a slow chapter, so here's another multi-chapter update. Review away! (Please excuse any typos, it was a long day.)**

6.

Clarke didn't wake until the sun was already shining through the holes in the ceiling of the tent. She'd slept through the night without a bandage on her leg, hoping it would heal a little on its own, but she knew she had to get to her medical supplies from the bunker at some point. She regretted not bringing everything with her the morning before, she'd just been so anxious to get to the camp. And she wasn't exactly planning for any river monster attacks, but who does?

When someone opened the tent's flap, light flooded in, temporarily blinding Clarke. When her eyes adjusted, she recognized Octavia holding one of the canvas-covered, plastic canteens.

"Oh hi," she said and handed Clarke the half empty container. "You're up. How do you feel?"

"I've actually been worse. How are you?" Clarke asked, concerned. She took a gulp from the canteen, and sighed as the cool rush of the liquid quickly refreshed her dry throat and lips.

"I'm okay. Look, Clarke, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I've just always wanted to swim like that, and it just seemed like a good idea at the time."

Clarke smiled. "It's fine. Really. It was good for me to shake off some rust. I haven't had a little adventure like that in a while." She sat up and swung one of her legs off the cot. "Your brother runs things around here, right?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately."

"Do you mind grabbing him for me? I need to go on another adventure."

Octavia's eyes perked up and she nodded. She returned back with Bellamy minutes later to find Clarke trying to slip her shoe onto the injured leg's foot. Octavia immediately knelt down to help her.

"What's this my sister tells me about another adventure, Princess?" Bellamy asked, his tone harsh. His graciousness from yesterday's events had quickly faded and he'd evidently turned back into the same man who pointed a gun at her face just 24 hours earlier.

"I need to go back to my castle to get the stuff I left there." Clarke decided she would play along with the sarcastic nickname. "It's not far. Just a fifteen-minute walk."

"Why do you need to tell me this?"

"Well, I'm a bit incapacitated at the moment, so it would probably be best if I went with at least one other person."

"That's not my problem."

"Bell, c'mon," Octavia spoke up. "She saved my life yesterday."

"You wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't have been so stupid."

"Well, the least you can do is assign someone to go with her."

"Fine. Where's Murphy?" he said as he turned to exit the tent.

"Oh, God," Octavia protested. "Anyone but him."

"Who then?"

"Clarke, weren't you and the Jaha kid friends back on the Ark? He should go with her! That'll give you guys some time to catch up." Octavia said grinning, obviously pleased with her idea.

Bellamy saw Clarke's expression and grinned, devilishly. "Yeah, great idea, O. Can you go find him?"

She agreed and dashed out of the tent to search for Wells.

"I'd rather go alone," Clarke said.

"Sorry, Princess. You're a bit incapacitated at the moment. I wouldn't want you wondering around the forest all alone."

"Fuck you, Bellamy."

He winked and left her in a cloud of her own frustration. A moment later, Wells entered the tent. His eyes looked lost and hopeful, but Clarke didn't indulge him. She swiftly brushed passed him and started toward the direction of the bunker.

"Clarke! Wait up," he called from behind her.

"Well, it's not exactly like I'm running away from you," she said, referring to her limp.

"Sorry," he said as he caught up with her. She hobbled on with him by her side. He noticed her struggling. "Do you need help?"

"No."

"Okay. Well I'm here if you-."

"Stop talking."

He lowered his head in disappointment. "Sorry." _I'm so, so sorry._

Clarke was exasperated. _What is Bellamy's problem?_ All she wanted was to have them all trust her, and he was making it that much more difficult for her. She didn't understand why Bellamy was still so caught up in who was privileged and who wasn't. That was _then_. This is _now_ , and _now_ is a matter of life or death. _Whatever happened on the Ark should stay on the Ark._

Clarke trekked on through the forest, each step becoming seemingly more difficult. She wondered if she could indeed make it without any help from Wells. He noticed her struggling, so he placed a hand on the small of her back to stabilize her. She quickly flung her arm back to shove him off.

"Don't touch me," she said between painfully gritted teeth.

"I just want to help," he begged, his eyes desperate.

"You've helped enough."

"Clarke, listen to me," Wells grabbed her arm, stopping her. "I'm sorry about what happened to your father. I truly am. I made a mistake and that's something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. I don't expect you to forgive me. I will never ask that of you. I just want you to know that if you ever need a friend, I'm here."

"A friend?" Clarke said. "A _friend_? I needed a friend back on the Ark. _That's_ where I needed one. And even if I wanted you to be my friend, I don't need someone to hold my hand down here. I've been living on my own for over eight months, and I don't need a fucking _friend_ to babysit me. If anything, you all need me more than I need you."

Wells stared into her piercing eyes. He'd never seen Clarke like this. She used to be kind and understanding… forgiving. She also used to have shorter, well kempt hair as well, but obviously a lot has changed. He wondered if he recognized the person standing in front of him, but it wasn't the same Clarke that he had known for so many years. He knew that she would never again be the same. _If only you knew._

Clarke turned away and continued hobbling on, toward the direction of the bunker. She fought her limp with each painful step. She refused to show any more weakness- not in front of Wells. Her face was hot from the pain in her leg as well as the bubbling bitterness and anger that had been seething inside her for a long time. Wells didn't dare say another word.

They soon reached a small hatch in the middle of the woods. Clarke bent down to turn the handle and she was soon climbing down a ladder into a dark hole. Wells stepped down after her.

"No, stay here. I need a look out," she lied. She didn't tell him she didn't want him to see her drawings.

She jumped down to the floor of her old home and looked around. The walls were still covered in her artwork and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. Art was one thing she'd never let go of. It was safe here. This was one place that only she- and now, unfortunately, Wells- knew about. It was her safe haven and for some reason, she knew that she would eventually come back to it.

She found a duffle bag under the bed, and she began stuffing it full of essentials: blankets, extra clothes, a few dark colored bottles of some kind of alcohol, and anything else she could find that she thought would prove useful in the future. She had to wrestle the bag's zipper to get it to close, but she eventually got it. She grabbed the med-kit bag with all her homemade remedies and ointments from next to her bed and took one last look around.

This small room had been her home for the last eight months; it was apart of her. It almost saddened her to be leaving, but she reminded herself where her new home was. For all this time, she'd been fighting for a lost cause. She'd been alone on this planet for so long, it seemed like there was no point in going on. Now, she finally had something other than her own life to fight for. In fact, there were now at least 99 more reasons to go on and live. They needed her. And as much as she hated to admit it, she needed them, too.

On their way back to camp, Clarke had finally given in and used Wells as a crutch. When they returned, she was able to walk the rest of the way to her tent, despite Wells's attempts to carry the luggage for her. When she entered, she found Octavia lying on a second bed that wasn't there before.

"Hi there," Clarke said, surprised. "I wasn't aware I would be getting a roommate."

"Yeah sorry, if I'm intruding. We're a bit overcrowded and I was one of the only people who had their own tent. Well, me and Bell, but I don't think he would've liked the arrangement. Plus I figured I could look after your injuries for you. It's the least I could do."

Clarke smiled, reassuringly. "Thank you. I actually could use some help treating it now, if you don't mind."

"Yeah, no problem." Octavia helped Clarke position herself on the bed.

Clarke reached behind her and grabbed the pillow. "Here, put this under my knee to elevate it." As Octavia positioned the pillow, Clarke rolled up her pants leg and rummaged through the med-kit. She pulled out a small jar of an opaque jelly substance and handed it to Octavia. "Start applying this to the wound, but not too thick. I don't want to waste any of it."

"What is this stuff?" Octavia asked as she dipped two fingers into the jelly.

"It's a kind of antibacterial ointment I made from a root. I actually learned how to make it from a book on the Ark, but the ingredients are really hard to find." Clarke continued to search the bag while Octavia worked on her leg. She found a roll of bandages and a square, reusable gauze pad. "Wrap it loosely with this when you're done."

"This is pretty nasty, Clarke." Octavia looked up at Clarke as she smoothed the cold jelly over the reddened and raw skin. "Again, I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday. This is all my fault."

"It's okay, Octavia," Clarke said, sincerely. "You were curious. I understand. Just don't do anything like that again. I might have to lose my whole leg next time."

Octavia smirked and Bellamy's face was reflected on hers for a split-second. They looked so much alike. "That would not be ideal. And I'm also really sorry about my brother this morning. He can be a dick sometimes."

Clarke sighed. "Yeah. Well, we all have our moments. He really does care about you."

"I know. He'll never let me forget it." Her voice almost sounded bitter.


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you all are enjoying it so far. These were some lengthy chapters, so let me know what you think!**

7.

A few days passed without any disturbances in the camp, other than the occasional Bellamy Blake ass-chewings that one or two kids had to endure. Clarke rested so that her leg would heal and she was eventually able to walk without a limp. She wondered how her leg wasn't fractured during the attack, or how she didn't lose half her leg all together, but she decided not to question a good thing.

She had asked Bellamy for a meeting with him and his "officers". She had a few suggestions about how to run things in the camp that she needed to run by the Rebel King. His Highness would only tolerate an audience if he had some of his goons present, so Clarke agreed.

She paced back and forth inside the downed drop ship. Octavia sat patiently on the ground, her back against the wall with one knee bent towards her chest. She had asked Clarke to attend the meeting and since she was the only one who had a chance at convincing Bellamy of anything, Clarke agreed.

"This is probably going to be a waste of time, Clarke," Octavia spoke up.

"I know. That's why you're here."

"He wont listen to me. He never has."

"I saw differently when you convinced him to let you to the river with us." Since the river incident, Bellamy had set up a few rain collecting systems throughout the camp. He had decided to only retrieve water from the river if there was a shortage of rain.

"Well, he's probably had a change of heart since then, considering what happened."

"Maybe." Clarke cracked her knuckles anxiously as she continued to pace.

Just then, Bellamy entered the ship, followed by Miller, Atom and Murphy.

"So this is your 'council'?" she asked, mockingly.

"Got a problem, Princess?" Murphy sneered back.

"Don't call me that."

"Enough, both of you," Bellamy said, raising a hand to silence them. "So, Clarke you wanted to talk. What is it?"

"Well, to be frank, the way you run things around here is sloppy and disorganized. I'm not going to try to tell you what to do. I know you wont listen. But we need to divide our strengths. We should assemble groups- teams that will be assigned a permanent task to keep this camp running effectively so no one gets killed."

"She's run it by me, Bell," Octavia said, standing up and taking her place next to Clarke. "It's a good idea. The both of us can handle organizing everything, and you can keep doing what you're doing."

"Hold on," Bellamy said. "Nothing goes unless I say it goes."

"We get that," Octavia said. "We just want to help you."

"Why should we listen to you?" Murphy demanded.

Clarke took a step forward. "Because we know what the hell we're talking about," she said. "So you should hear us out."

Bellamy raised an eyebrow at Murphy, silently telling him to shut up. Murphy shrank back into his boots. "What kind of assignments did you have in mind?" he said, as he turned back to Clarke.

"Anything that we need to do on a regular basis," Clarke started, "like wall maintenance, hunter-gatherers, water suppliers, weapon makers, and a group of tech guys like Monty and Jasper to set up a station to try and establish a radio connection with the Ark. I definitely need a team to help me gather medical supplies. I can't be the only person who knows anything about medicine, ya know, in case I die."

Bellamy shifted uncomfortably at the last comment. "What about a group of scouts?"

Clarke shook her head. "It's too dangerous. We should get a foundation established first."

"We need to be ready if the Grounders plan to attack," Bellamy argued.

"They won't attack if we don't go after them."

"We need a some king of defense strategy. Something to help us prepare for the event that they do decide to move on us."

"Bell, she's right," Octavia spoke up again. "Basic stuff like food and water need to be taken care of so we don't starve to death before we even have a chance to fight the Grounders. We shouldn't waste man power on something we haven't even encountered yet."

"If you don't think they're watching us right now, you're crazy," Bellamy said.

"I know, but they're not an immediate threat," Octavia argued. "Starvation is. We haven't had a hot meal in three days, Bellamy."

"Guys, we can discuss the details later," Clarke said. "But Bellamy, we need a decision. Yes or no?"

Bellamy paused and straightened his jacket. "We can do your plan on one condition." Clarke raised an eyebrow, urging him on. "I get to command a team of scouts."

Clarke rolled her eyes. "It's a bad idea, I'm telling you."

"Well, that's my condition. We'd only be patrolling just outside the perimeter of the camp, anyways. It's not like I'm planning to start a full-on war with the savages."

Octavia glanced at Clarke as she pondered the suggestion. "Fine." It looked as if it pained her to say it, but she knew there was no arguing with Bellamy Blake. They needed this plan.

Bellamy grinned. "When do we start?"

"Whenever you want, your highness."

The next morning, Clarke had been able to put together a small group of trainees to help her gather supplies for certain medicines. She'd read about a lot of Earth-made remedies back on the Ark, but she'd also been able to watch the Grounders make some- mostly antidotes for spider or snake venom, amongst other smaller scale tonics.

She taught her team of five volunteers which berries to pick, which kind of root to dig up, and which flowers' nectar to extract. A lot had changed since Earth had been affected by nuclear war, a lot having to do with nature and it's properties. There were many plants that had developed self-healing agents when fighting off traces of radiation, some of which could be applied to humans. When combined correctly, they could work wonders.

They had just finished gathering sore-throat healing bark when they got back to the camp. The atmosphere had an eerie vibe to it, almost as if everyone had seen a ghost. Bellamy and Octavia were nowhere to be found. Clarke took the rest of the team's supplies and headed inside the drop ship to deposit them onto the shelves she'd constructed herself. When she had stacked the last pouch of materials, she heard a banging noise from the second level of the ship, followed by loud voices, arguing. She hopped onto the ladder and began to climb to investigate what was going on.

When she opened the hatch she first saw Miller and Bellamy. Octavia faced her brother, blocking him from something. And then Clarke saw it. _A Grounder._ She stepped up and hoisted herself into the room. The man was tall and dark. His body was riddled with tribal tattoos and scars of all kinds. His face looked angry under a pile of bruises and cuts, which Clarke assumed were a result of Bellamy's handiwork. The Grounder was chained to opposite walls by his hands, forcing his arms to remain open like the wings of a bird.

Octavia looked in Clarke's direction, a desperate look on her face. Bellamy appeared to be slightly out of breath and annoyed.

"We found this fucker on patrol," Bellamy said without Clarke having to inquire about the situation. "He was watching the camp."

"Clarke, they're torturing him!" Octavia said, almost panicked.

Clarke said nothing. She slowly approached the Grounder, her face as cold as stone. She looked up into his dark, smoking eyes.

"Tell them to stop!" Octavia pleaded with Clarke. "Please, he's done nothing wrong."

Clarke continued to stare at the mountain of a man in front of her. She recognized him. She didn't know exactly from where, but she had a pretty good idea. "No." She said, firmly. "Do what you have to do, Bellamy."

She turned and saw Bellamy smile. Octavia's mouth dropped open and her eyes narrowed. "What the fuck, Clarke? He didn't do anything. Show him a little mercy."

Clarke glared at Octavia. "They didn't show much mercy when they captured and tortured me, did they? Why should we show them anything different?"

The room froze apart from the Grounder's heavy breathing. Even Miller looked up to see if they had heard her correctly. Bellamy's fists relaxed. His baffled face mirrored Octavia's, but it quickly turned into complete rage. He dug his fingernails into his palms and he took a step forward. Clarke moved out of his way and continued to storm out of the room. The last thing she heard before the hatch closed was a grunt and the distinct sound of knuckles impacting hard flesh.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hope you like the update! Things are going to get real as hell, pretty soon. Let me know what you think.**

8.

 _Clarke was awoken by a crash of thunder. There was rain falling all around her. She couldn't breathe. One eye was swollen shut. Her hair was drenched in mud from the ground under her head. Her lips were cracked and bruised. Another crack of lightning illuminated her silhouette against the wet, cold ground; the wooden cage had consumed her. She was trapped._

 _It had been three days since the Grounders had found her. They had beaten her- tormented her. She was nothing in their eyes. They saw no humanity in her, just as she in them. She was tired. Her legs trembled as she tried to stand. She didn't resemble herself at all. The curves of her body had been replaced with hard muscle, as the soaked fabric of her pants clinging to her rippling legs. She was harder and stronger now. But she knew she was going to die._

 _She fell to her knees ignored the shooting pain ripping through her entire body. She wanted to die. She wanted it all to be over._ No. It can't be over _. They had taken her bracelet. She knew the Ark thought she was dead. There was nothing left to fight for, right?_ There is. Fight for yourself, Clarke. Fight for your father. It's what he would have wanted. _Another crash of lightning came. She almost didn't see it but behind the bars of her cage, were a pair of dark eyes staring back at her. "Fight, Clarke," a voice said._ I will.

Clarke shot awake, her eyes wide and panicked. She was sweating and breathing heavily, so relaxed back into her pillow, calming herself. It was still dark out, but she saw the first few rays of sunlight just beginning to creep into her tent. She wanted to go watch the sunrise.

She slipped on a pair of cargo pants and boots, and glanced over at Octavia's bed. The girl looked peaceful as she slept, despite the situation with the captured Grounder that she and Clarke had argued about half the night. But sleep does that to people- it pulls them away from reality for a while. For some, it can be comforting. _But not for everyone._

Clarke quietly slipped out of the tent and slung her jacket over her shoulders. She glanced around the camp and took a breath of the fresh morning air. It was peaceful; she'd forgotten what that had felt like. She smiled softly to herself and looked up into the canopy above. She picked out a spot and started toward the tree.

She hated heights. But sometimes in the morning when her nightmares woke her just before first light, she'd climb to the very top of a tree and watch the sun come up from the horizon. Once in a while, she needed a reminder of how beautiful this world really was. The colors and the serenity of the morning light always managed to captivate her.

She reached the top of the tree and didn't dare to look down. She turned around to observe the landscape. It was beautiful. She saw the river, winding and turning over the land before it disappeared between two distant mountains. The water had cut a valley over the last hundred years, and on either side, the dense forest stretched for miles and miles. She turned back and a sliver of light had begun to appear to the east.

The colors were soft and pale, unlike a sunset where there were traces of harsh blood-orange and red in the sky. She saw glimpses of soft blues, purples, and pinks above the slowly rising yellow orb. She longed for a set of paints and a canvas in that moment. She always did. This was her dreamland when her nights were so often filled with terrors.

Suddenly, she heard something from above. She looked up Something streaked the sky. Clarke froze. It was getting closer. _It's from space._ Her eyes widened. It looked to be some kind of escape pod, but at that distance and speed, she couldn't tell for sure until a white parachute was deployed, halting it from impacting the ground with full force.

The climb back down the tree was the tricky part. She almost lost her footing a few times, but eventually she landed back on the ground and back in reality. She made her way back to the ship, where she climbed to the second level and into the Grounder's holding area. Bellamy had started early, as he had spent the night guarding his prisoner.

"Anything?" Clarke asked, refusing to look at the still chained and still standing Grounder.

Bellamy shook his head. "Not a word. But he'll crack soon."

Clarke said nothing, but she strongly doubted that the Grounder would break. She'd seen them, and you'd more likely be able to crack granite with your bare hands than to break a Grounder. "I saw something fall from the sky, not to far from here. I think it's from the Ark."

Bellamy's eyes flicked to her, curious. "What was it?"

"It looked like some kind of escape pod, but was pretty small. We should go check it out."

Bellamy silently considered it. "I don't want to put anyone out there. You were right, it's way too dangerous. Especially now since we've captured one of their own."

"Then just you and me," Clarke said. "We're more likely to stay hidden than a larger search party. I have a good idea of where it landed, I know this land pretty well."

" _You_ want to go out into the wilderness _alone_ with _me_?" he asked, surprised.

"Well, I'm not thinking about it like that. It could be a supply drop for all I know. But if someone was in that thing, I don't want them to be on their own out there." She swallowed uncomfortably and clenched her jaw. "It's hard."

Bellamy nodded, reluctantly. He wasn't going to argue with that. And if it was supplies, they needed them. Badly. "Let me get Miller up here to make sure Octavia doesn't come back."

"She came up here?"

"Twice last night. I barely got any sleep."

"Why?"

"She found a book with his stuff." He motioned to the Grounder and shifted uncomfortably. "There were drawings. A few of them were of her."

"Drawings… of Octavia?" Clarke was taken aback. How long had this man been watching them?

"It's fucked up, I know. We should probably get going." He led the way through the hatch and down the ladder.

Clarke went back to her tent where Octavia was now awake to grab her bow. She reached her hand behind her back to touch the leather handle of her knife, holstered in it's knew casing that she made the day before from a deer hide. It wrapped around her waist like a belt, securing it so she could run and jump with ease.

"Where are you going? To catch more Grounders?" Octavia sneered.

"Octavia, enough," Bellamy said as she stepped into the tent. "We're leaving for a little bit. Miller is in with the Grounder, so you're in charge of things on the ground. I trust you to make sure things run smoothly. No one leaves camp."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and pretended to be very interested in making her bed.

Bellamy sighed and stormed out of the tent while Clarke followed. "She's so goddamn stubborn."

"Wonder where she gets it from," Clarke mumbled. Bellamy shot her a look, warning her not to make fun of his sister. "Only kidding."

They walked through the makeshift gate and Clarke led the way to the downed spacecraft. Even after a week of being on the ground, Bellamy still had trouble navigating the terrain. He envied Clarke as he watched her step over things he couldn't even see. She ducked under things that he ran into and tripped over branches that she'd avoided. He felt embarrassed. This girl, a privileged girl, was better than him at something and he hated it. They trudged on with Bellamy becoming increasingly annoyed with the constant obstacles that this land had, while Clarke handled it gracefully.

"So why do you hate me?" she asked, suddenly, breaking the silence.

He scoffed. "Why shouldn't I hate you? Your mom is a council member. Your family had power, Princess. The government was unfair, and you know it. My sister had to stay locked under the floor for her whole life while you and Jaha were born with silver spoons in your mouths. You're one of the privileged."

She slowly turned to him as she walked backwards, smiling. "You think I'm privileged?"

"I don't _think_ you are. It's just a fact."

"Oh, is it?" she laughed sarcastically. "What part of being alone on a feral planet for eight months is a privilege?"

"Well, you weren't that alone, were you?" Bellamy retorted.

Clarke's jaw tightened and she turned back around. Bellamy felt a pang of guilt as he brought up her experience, but he smirked anyways. "When were you going to tell us about your encounter with the Grounders?" Clarke ignored him. "Oh, c'mon Clarke! I saw you this morning and how uncomfortable you were when you were in the same room as him. You think you're such a badass but you can barely even handle looking at one of those savages."

Clarke whipped around angrily. "Watch your fucking mouth, Bellamy."

"Easy there, Princess. Wouldn't want to hurt your royal knuckles, would we?" He was smiling deviously. Clarke noticed that her hands were balled into fists. She turned back around and began walking faster, making Bellamy pick up his pace to keep up. "Was it really that bad, Clarke? I bet they only made you go a few days without conditioning your hair and painting your nails."

"You guessed it," Clarke said, loudly. "Do you know how many split ends and hangnails I had? It was horrifying."

Bellamy smiled behind her back as she continued through the woods. A part of him liked the fact that she could usually take his tormenting. The only time she got defensive was when he had brought up her interaction with the captured Grounder. It struck him as odd that something that simple set her off.

Clarke suddenly stopped in front of him and crouched down. He followed her lead and peered over the shrubbery into a clearing. A metal object about the size of a large boulder had indeed impacted the ground, the parachute was sprawled over the tree canopy. Something was lying on the ground next to it… _A body._

Clarke must have noticed it as well, as she immediately rushed to the scene with Bellamy on her heels. She knelt down and examined the unconscious girl. There was dried blood on her hairline and forehead. She put an ear to the girl's chest and let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding

"She's breathing," Clarke said. "It's probably just a concussion. Hey! Can you hear me?"

The girl moaned in pain and her eyes fluttered open. "Who are you?" she mumbled.

"Are you from the Ark?" Clarke asked, helping the girl sit up.

The girl nodded and looked around with squinted eyes. "I made it?"

Clarke looked up at Bellamy. "Who are you?" he said.

"I'm Raven. Raven Reyes." Raven brought a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the light.

"I'm Clarke and this is Bellamy. Here, let us help you stand."

Raven's eyebrows synched together, making Clarke pause. "Wait… Your name is Clarke? Clarke Griffin?" Clarke nodded. "I knew your mother. She thought you died eight months ago."

"You know my mom? Is she okay?"

Raven looked up at Clarke, her eyes weary. "They caught her a few days ago helping me rebuild this ship."

Clarke was confused. _They caught her… she was doing it illegally? That means…_ Her heart sank. "No…" She fell back on her heels, her back against the cold metal of the escape pod. Her heart started racing as she began to panic.

Raven's voice caught in her throat. "I'm so sorry, Clarke. They floated her yesterday."


	9. Chapter 9

**Things are slowly beginning to diverge from the show, so bear with me. More characters will be added, and some awesome plot points are coming. So far, there has only been Clarke's and a little of Bellamy's POV, but that will change at some point as well. I hope everyone likes it! Tell me what you think in the reviews. Or don't. I'm not a beggar. (As always, I apologize for any typos or organizational errors I missed while editing.)**

 **Julixena452: Thank you! You will find out who "the voice" was soon enough :) I left that part vague on purpose. I will bring in Lexa at some point, that I can promise you. Stay tuned!**

9.

She had her mother's face and her father's eyes. Everyone had always told her that. But now, she had no mother or father. They were gone. All this time, she'd clung to the slightest possibility that she'd see her mother one more time down on Earth, but now Abby Griffin's body was floating somewhere out in the vastness of space, along with her husband's. _May we meet again._ Those were both her parents' last words to her. They echoed in her ears now, meaningless.

As soon as she'd led Bellamy and Raven back to camp, she took off toward her bunker again, seeking seclusion from the 100. She'd only gotten halfway when she finally broke down in the middle of the woods. She fell to her knees and leaned against a tree, her sobs coming in muffled wails. The entire camp probably heard her weeping by now, but she didn't care.

It was dusk by the time she decided to return. She almost considered not going back, but she knew they needed her. Her tent was thankfully empty, with no sign of Octavia. She took a seat on her bed and stared at the ground with empty eyes. When someone walked in, she looked up slowly.

"Clarke," Bellamy said. "I need you for a second." Clarke silently followed him out of the tent and back into the ship. Raven lay on a metal table someone had pulled from the supply deck of the ship. Finn stood next to her, his hand in hers. Clarke wanted to ask about that, but she didn't have the strength. "Her head has been hurting since this morning. It's gotten worse."

Clarke stepped forward and examined the wound on her head. She turned to the supply shelf and pulled off a hand-sewn canvas pouch filled with herbs she'd collected a few weeks before the rest of the 99 had landed. She grabbed a metal skillet and a cup. She dipped the cup into the rainwater bucket and went outside.

"She's taking it pretty hard," Raven said, sadly.

Bellamy watched the fabric of the curtain in the doorway sway in the wind, silently. He felt horrible. He wanted to comfort her and tell her that she wasn't alone, but he didn't know how. Even if he did, it wouldn't help her at all, seeing how badly he had treated her that morning. His heart hurt for her- he knew what it was like to lose a mother.

Minutes later, Clarke returned with a steaming hot cup of herbal tea and handed it to Raven. "This'll help with the pain and it's a mild sedative. It's probably best if you sleep in your own tent tonight. We have an even amount of beds, so you'll have to share. I don't think you'll mind, Finn." He laughed and Raven blushed. Clarke smirked and glanced over at Bellamy and although he seemed amused, eyes were pained. She quickly looked away. "Well if that's all, I'll get back to my tent."

Bellamy hesitated, but finally followed her back to the tent. "Clarke!"

She was slipping off her shoes when he came in. "Bellamy, I'm not in the mood to be tormented right now." Her voice sounded exhausted.

"No I'm not… I'm just really sorry about your mom," he said. "If you need to talk, you know where to find me."

"Why would I talk to you?"

"I'm sorry for being a dick earlier. You didn't deserve that."

"I don't need your pity."

"I don't pity you."

"Good." She leaned back and rested her head on the pillow. "If that's all, your highness, I'd like to get some sleep." She rolled over to face the opposite wall as she felt a lump growing in her throat.

"Goodnight," he said, and without waiting for a response, he was gone.

She had a restless sleep that night.

When the sunrise came again, she didn't bother to watch- her usual desires to see the colors were gone. It wasn't time to escape from reality- it was time to face it. She headed straight toward the drop ship to take an inventory of supplies. Just as she had finished with the herbs, Bellamy rushed down the ladder.

"Where's Octavia?" he said, is eyes heavy but alert and worried.

"I don't know… I don't think she was in her bed this morning. Why, what's going on?"

" _Fuck_! The Grounder is gone. She must've snuck in and let him go while I was sleeping."

Clarke dropped what she was doing and rushed outside. The gate was open. She figured the guard must have fallen asleep at his post.

"The herbs…" Clarke whispered to Bellamy. She realized why there seemed to be some of her supplies missing. "She must've used the stuff I gave Raven to knock the guard out."

Bellamy took off, holstering his pistol in the waist of his pants with Clarke at his heels. "Octavia!" he roared as he sprinted. If the camp wasn't awake yet, they were now. "Octavia!" There was no sign of the Grounder or his sister. He ran his hands through his hair as he slowed, exasperated.

"They're gone," Clarke said.

Bellamy kicked a tree stump, furiously. "How could have I let this happen?"

"It's not your fault. It was only a matter of time until this happened," Clarke said, trying to reassure him.

"No, I fell asleep on duty," he said, his eyes distressed and tired. "Now she's out there with some Grounder who is probably doing who knows what to her..."

"Bellamy, calm down. We'll find-."

"Don't tell me to calm down," he growled, suddenly whipping around to face Clarke. "She is my sister and _my_ responsibility." Clarke remembered the struggles Octavia had faced growing up in a society where second children are forbidden. She'd heard from Finn that Bellamy had lost his job as a guard protecting his illegal sister's identity and was demoted to a janitor. But out of his whole family, he'd been the lucky one. Octavia was thrown in a jail cell for the last year and his mother was immediately floated for violating one of the Ark's laws. Clarke wondered if that was why he came to her tent the night before- he'd lost his mother, too.

Clarke reached out, touching his arm and for some reason, his raised heartbeat instantly slowed. "We will find her. I promise you."

They ran back to camp, not willing to waste any more time than they already had. "Check the tents," Clarke said. "She might still be here, and we don't want to cause anymore trouble than we have to."

Bellamy was too desperate to argue. He immediately began ripping open tent flaps searching for his sister. Clarke did the same. She finally reached her own tent and busted through the opening.

"Octavia!" Clarke said. The girl was in her bed with the blankets pulled up to her nose. She shot up at the sound of Clarke's surprised voice.

"What is it?" she said with a groggy voice.

"The Grounder is gone. Your brother is looking for you."

"Lincoln escaped?" she said, her eyes perking up. She swung her legs off the bed and started slipping on her boots.

"He told you his name? Whatever, it doesn't matter right now. You'd better go find Bellamy before he terrorizes anyone else, looking for you." Octavia started towards the door, but Clarke caught her arm. "Wait, Octavia. You weren't in bed this morning. Did you do it? Did you let him go? You can tell me, I won't say anything."

Octavia said nothing as she shook her shoulder from Clarke's grasp, but her narrowed brown eyes told her all she needed to know.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm trying to post as much as I can before I go back to school next week! ( _F_ _uck me!_ ) But yeah, thanks for reading. I love everyone.**

10.

A week later, Clarke had more than enough medical supplies to hold them over for a while, so she'd been helping the wall maintenance crew with making some reparations to the gate one morning. She'd begun coping with her mother's death a bit better when good news of the "team system" came. When not on their assignment, the groups would all pitch in and help each other, which made Clarke proud of what she and Bellamy had established. Everyone along when they were on duty, and when they didn't, it made for some entertaining campfire stories. Bellamy took credit for the whole operation. Clarke let him have his moment, but she secretly felt a sense of accomplishment. _Mom, I think dad would be proud. I've learned everything from you._

Bellamy's scouting team had taken some time to recover from the Grounder's- Lincoln's- escape, but they were back outside the walls within a few days. Bellamy never said anything, but she knew they didn't go out as far as they used to. She didn't blame them. Some of the tension between the Princess and Rebel King had eased. He occasionally couldn't resist the urge to mock her and her tedious ways of organization, but it was always followed by a witty retort from Clarke. Their only common goal was to keep as many people alive as possible and it was working fantastically.

While finishing up the gate repair, Clarke suddenly heard a scream from the other side of camp. She immediately dropped the gate materials and sprinted to the source of the sound. Monroe, a one of Bellamy's scouts was standing over a body with a horror stricken face.

"Monroe! What happened?" Clarke called to her as she approached the scene, a crowd beginning to form.

Monroe said nothing. When Clarke got closer, she recognized the dark skin of the boy lying lifeless on the ground. Panic rose in her throat. _Oh, no._ She dove down next to him and put an ear to his chest to check his breathing.

"Someone help me!" She yelled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Finn run off in the direction of the drop ship. "Wells! Can you hear me?" She shook him. His eyes slowly opened and he looked up at her. He grinned weakly with blood-streaked teeth as he recognized her face. He coughed once and a small spurt of the red liquid began to run from the corner of his mouth. _Oh, God, no. Not you too._

Clarke began to frantically search for a wound and covered it with her and. Wells's breathing slowed as his lungs filled with blood. "Clarke…" he managed to say, almost inaudibly. "Clarke, listen to me."

"Yes, Wells, what is it?" Silent tears had begun to slowly fall from her eyes. She leaned in closer to his face.

"I've always loved you." He coughed again. She saw his eyes start to gloss over and a small tear began rolling down the side of his face. "I'm so sorry, please… I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Wells. I know." She cupped his face and let out a small sob. "It's okay. I got you now."

His eyes looked relieved. _I know it wasn't you._ "Clarke," he said in one last breath. His body suddenly froze. He was gone

Clarke stared into his hazed over eyes. So much regret began to rush over her. She wanted to forgive him sooner. She knew it wasn't his fault. She'd known it for a while. He let her hate him for so long. In that moment, she forgave them both, but now she'd never had the chance to tell them. "May we meet again." She leaned down to kiss his cheek and closed his eyes with two bloody fingers.

She slowly stood up and turned around to face Monroe. Her face was frozen with shock.

"Who did this?" Clarke asked, her voice calm. When Monroe didn't answer, Clarke grabbed her two shoulders and shook her to bring her back to reality. "Monroe! Who did this?"

Monroe stared into Clarke's eyes, blankly. It was a while before she answered with a whisper, "Murphy."

Clarke dropped her grasp on the girl's shoulders. "Where is he?" she asked quietly.

"He's gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?"

"He left camp."

Clarke balled her hands into fists. "And you let him?"

"He wanted to protect me- he knew I saw what happened," she started to cry.

Clarke was furious, sad, and vengeful all at the same time. Her heart pounded in her chest. She almost didn't hear the faint, but all too familiar sound of a bowstring being pulled back. " _Clarke, watch out!"_ She heard a voice shout. She turned around.

 _Boom._

She grunted as something hard hit her chest. She stumbled backwards and looked down. One of her own arrows stuck out of her jacket. She looked up and saw a figure in the canopy. She fell to her knees and someone came to her side and they caught her as she fell backwards.

"Clarke!" Bellamy said as he held her in his arms.

"Bellamy," she said with an empty voice. Her eyes traveled back to the figure in the trees and they were quickly filled with horror. "Bellamy, move!" Using all the strength she could muster and ignoring the arrow in her chest, she raised herself to shield him as another arrow whizzed through the air and planted into her shoulder blade. She yelled out in pain and Octavia screamed her brother's name from the crowd. "Octavia, get him out of here!" Clarke commanded, her voice strained with pain.

Octavia quickly rushed to drag her brother away from Clarke's side as the crowd suddenly began to disperse in a panic. Clarke was left out in the open, lying next to her former best friend's corps. She rolled over to look for the figure one more time. She saw a distant but devilish smile. _Murphy, you son of a bitch._ He drew Clarke's bow one more time. _He's killing the leaders._ "Bellamy, RUN!" She heard a gunshot from somewhere and then everything went black.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the evil cliffhanger, muahahahaha. Clarke is getting the shit beat out of her in this story, isn't she? I guess I'll give her a break for a while. Anyways, let me know what you think! Hope everyone is liking it so far. I included a few lines from the show in this chapter, they were too good not to!**

 **Selmersaurus: He will, not to worry. She's too much of a badass for anyone to ignore. Clarke and Bellamy have grown quite close and protective of each other as you'll see in this chapter. They might have some more difficulties when Bellamy makes a few headstrong decisions later, but that's all I'm going to say :)**

11.

Bellamy was able to shake Octavia's grip on his arm and he fired a shot at Murphy, missing a second time. Murphy's face had transformed from triumphant to fearful when the bark of the tree exploded just a few inches above his head. He turned his aim towards Bellamy.

"Murphy, put the fucking bow down!" he roared, furiously.

Murphy smiled a possessed smile. "Why would I do that?"

"I'll blow your damn head off. Get down. Now."

"Go ahead. Shoot me then." His attitude had never failed to piss someone off, but now he was messing with the wrong person at the wrong time. Bellamy gritted his teeth and fired again, hitting Murphy in the thigh. He yelped as he lost his footing and fell until he was able to take hold of a branch with one hand as he held onto the bow with the other. Monroe screamed. Bellamy pulled the trigger one last time and hit the wood next to Murphy's hand, forcing him to lose his grip and fall the remaining few feet to the ground. Atom and Miller rushed to restrain Murphy while Finn, Raven, and Bellamy rushed to Clarke's side.

She had gone unconscious. Her white shirt and jacket were stained with blood on opposite sides of her body where the arrows stuck out of her skin. Finn started to remove one of them, but Bellamy grabbed his wrist. "Don't take it out yet, she could bleed to death. Get me a knife and a lighter, Raven."

She nodded and retreated back to the drop ship where she had been working with Jasper and Monty on the radio. Bellamy and Finn were both kneeling on the ground, keeping Clarke on her side so that the arrowheads implanted in her flesh wouldn't move and hit an artery.

Bellamy had had barely any time to process what just happened. Murphy shot Clarke and he was about to shoot him, but Clarke had jumped in front of him, just in time. He didn't know what to think of it. All he was focused on was saving Clarke's life. "Clarke!" he called. "Clarke, open your eyes. Can you hear me? It's Bellamy."

Clarke's eyes shot open, and she squirmed under his and Finn's hands. "Bellamy, get out of here! Murphy is shooting the leaders-."

"He's down, Clarke. It's okay," Finn said as he held her still while she struggled. She began to relax when Bellamy cupped her face, calming her. Raven jogged back with a knife and lighter in hand. She stood over the three of them, helpless.

"You were shot," Finn said. "Tell us what to do."

Clarke looked down at her chest. "Oh, God damn it," she mumbled. Bellamy almost wanted to laugh at the way she said it. She touched her skin in the middle of her chest around the arrow and Bellamy winced when she cried out in pain. "Ow! Okay, at least it only impacted bone." Her sternum had taken the blow, protecting her heart. Usually it would have gone right through her, bone and all, but by some miracle she was still alive. If Murphy had been a better shot and hit her just three inches to the side, she would have been killed instantly. "Someone pull it out. If I move the wrong way, it could shift and something important might be punctured. That would not be very good."

Bellamy hesitated and looked up at Finn, but he knew he'd have to be the one to do it. He put a hand on Clarke's shoulder and the other around the base of the arrow. "Look at me, Princess," he said, calmly. Her face was hard, but her blue eyes were full of pain and fear. When they finally found his, she was instantly reassured.

Bellamy drew in a sharp breath and in one swift motion he yanked the arrow from Clarke's sternum, never breaking eye contact with her. He pulled down Clarke's shirt to reveal the entry wound. Just as he'd hoped, there wasn't much bleeding so cauterizing wasn't needed just yet.

"Bellamy," Miller said, suddenly. Bellamy turned. Atom and Miller stood on either side of Murphy, restraining his arms behind his back. Bellamy stood and approached them, seething. "What should we do with him?"

Bellamy didn't answer. He looked at Murphy as he struggled to stand on one leg. His face was expressionless. _Patheti_ c. "Put him on his knees." Atom and Miller each put a hand on Murphy's shoulder and forced him to the ground. Murphy looked up at Bellamy with horrified eyes. The man towered over him, shrinking him to the size of a mouse.

"Why?" Bellamy hissed at him.

"When we were on patrol the other day the Grounders found me. They said that if I didn't take out Jaha, Clarke, and you, they'd kill everyone in the camp."

"You're lying," Bellamy said, his eyes narrowed.

Murphy shook his head and then craned his neck to reveal a long, red scar just above his collarbone. "They held a sword to my neck and gave me this. They were going to kill everyone! What was I supposed to do but what they told me to? I had no other choice."

"Why Jaha, too?" Finn asked, still holding Clarke still. "He wasn't like Clarke or Bellamy."

"I may have added him to the list." Murphy smirked. "He was a problem for us. Trust me, I did you all a favor."

 _I'm going to kill you_. Bellamy pulled his gun out, letting it rest at his side. "Crime here will not go unanswered, Murphy." His voice was cold and dark.

Murphy looked up again, shaking his head. "Wow," he whispered. "You sound just like them."

Bellamy gritted his teeth and put the gun between Murphy's eyes. "Any last words, John?"

"You can't be king forever, Blake. Your kingdom will fall soon. Thank God I won't be around to watch it happen."

Bellamy's finger tightened around the trigger.

"Wait!" he heard someone say. He looked up, relaxing his hand.

"Clarke, what is it?" he asked impatiently.

"No," she said and paused for a moment. She looked at Bellamy with sad eyes. "No more death."

Bellamy stared at her, dumbfounded. "He killed Wells, shot you, and tried to kill me. He deserves to die."

"No!" Suddenly, she was shouting. Pain shot through her chest but she ignored it. "We don't decide who lives and dies. Not down here. There has been too much of our own blood spilled. He had a fault in that, yeah. But no one here chooses if someone else gets to live another day. No one has that right."

"So what do you suggest we do? Let him go?"

The crowd started to protest. "No! Float him!"

Clarke started to stand, one arrow still sticking out of her shoulder. Everyone fell silent at the sight and she turned around to face them. "If you want Bellamy to pull that trigger, you're just as bad as Murphy. If we keep going on like this, the Grounders won't even have to kill us. We would just be doing the hard work for them." She paused and turned to Bellamy. "We make the rules- _you_ make the rules. But there will be no more death." Her voice broke on the last word as a lump began to form in her throat. She fought back tears, but Bellamy saw the brokenness in her eyes.

He looked back at Murphy, the pistol still pressed to his forehead. "If you come near this camp again, we'll be right back here, just like this, and my finger might just slip." As he spoke, his voice was low and terrifying. His eyes were filled with a kind of defiance that Murphy had never seen before. "Leave," he said, quietly. "Don't come back."

…

Finn and Raven helped Clarke walk herself to the drop ship. The pain in her chest and back was so great, that she began to drift in and out of consciousness. Bellamy took over and began barking orders at everyone in the room. "Octavia, make her that herbal tea stuff for the pain. Help me get her on the table, Finn. Raven, do you still have that knife and lighter? Heat the blade." She looked confused but she didn't question it. She lit the small flame and held it under the blade.

Clarke moaned with pain as Bellamy and Finn lifted onto the table so that she was on her side. When Octavia returned with the tea, she cupped Clarke's mouth and tipped the cup so the hot liquid ran down her throat. Clarke looked relieved, but her face was still hot with sweat.

"You're going to be okay, Clarke," Octavia said softly, kneeling down so that they were eyelevel.

"Get this shit out of my back," she slurred. "You have to-."

"Cauterize it." Bellamy finished. "I figured. Relax. Octavia, hold her still."

Clarke mumbled something about booze and closed her eyes. The arrow implanted in her shoulder was a gruesome sight. It stuck through two layers of clothes and dense muscle- Bellamy knew is wouldn't be easy to take it out. Once again, he braced her shoulder with one hand and made a fist around the arrow's shaft with the other. He pulled, hard and felt a ripping sensation as it exited her back. _Shit._ Clarke grunted in pain and tensed, as more blood started to pour out of the wound shoulder. Bellamy knew that if she weren't intoxicated with magic, herbal tea, she would have passed out from the pain.

He eased Clarke's jacket off her shoulder and pulled the now reddened strap of her shirt down to uncover the area the arrowhead had impacted. He quickly took the blade from Raven and found the hole in her flesh with his fingers. He pulled a bottle of alcohol from the shelf and took a long swig. He grimaced as the clear liquid burned his throat. _Make it quick, will you?_ Her voice from the river echoed in his mind as he touched the blade to her skin.

After the agonizing 15 seconds had ended, Clarke fell unconscious, victim to the sedative in the tea. Bellamy poured the alcoholic drink over the burn to sanitize it. Finn began to bandage it and Bellamy was able to relax, dropping the knife. He almost didn't notice the scars peaking out from under her shirt. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to cover them up so that no one saw. When the bandage was on, e quickly slipped the strap back onto her shoulder, followed by the jacket.

He cleared his throat. "Can someone get her a pillow and blanket? She can spend the night in here. Raven, can you stay here, with her in case she wakes up?"

Raven looked surprised. "Yeah, that's fine. Where are you going?"

"Murphy said the Grounders want us all dead. I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen." With that, he turned and headed towards the door.

"Listen up! Everyone!" he shouted, his voice booming from the middle of camp. When the majority of campers had gathered, he turned to face them. "The Grounders are out there. We've known that for a while. But I think it's about time we start preparing to fight back." A few people in the crowd cheered. Bellamy looked around at them- they were _his_ people. He had a responsibility to them to keep them safe.

"On the Ark, we were criminals. Every last one of us. They sent us down here to a radioactive planet and they knew we might've died, but they didn't care. We were expendable. But that was then, and this is now. We aren't apart of the Ark anymore. The moment they sealed the doors of that drop ship and launched us into the Earth's atmosphere, we became something else- something better. We weren't sent here to die. We were sent here to live. It won't be easy- Murphy showed us today that our lives are short. But they're worth fighting for. Every last person in this camp is worth fighting for. When the Grounders come, we'll be ready, but only if we stand together. _They_ are the enemy, not the people standing around to you right now. There will be no more killing our own, no matter the circumstances. And like I said, this isn't the Ark. We will not float everyone who commits a crime, but that doesn't mean that justice will go unserved." He paused as his people began to nod, agreeing with him. He didn't realize it then, but they were willing to follow him anywhere even though most of he said were Clarke's words.

"Now, we need to bury the dead," he said referring to Wells, his face somber. "Let this be the last day someone is killed by the hand of their own people."


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the update delay. Life is busy at the moment, but I hope you like it! Let me know what you think!**

 **PS: New POV's are coming :)**

12.

"How's the radio going, guys?" Bellamy asked. After they had buried Wells and given him a short memorial service, Bellamy called a meeting with Jasper, Raven, Monty, Finn, Miller, Atom, and Octavia. They were all crowded in the second level of the drop ship so that they wouldn't wake Clarke from her sleep. He felt bad that she couldn't have been at the funeral, but the tea was working wonders.

"It's coming along," Raven said, her arms crossed and her hip cocked to one side. "We need a few more materials, but the main thing is getting the internal wiring right. Broadcasting this long of a distance is not easy. We're trying to put the internal system back together, but the circuits were fried pretty badly. What happened to it?"

"Some debris came loose when we entered the atmosphere," Miller answered. "It hit the panel on the wall and of course the radio was the thing that was damaged."

"Fucking convenient," she said rolling her eyes.

"We might be able to establish video feed if we do it right," Monty said. "We have a screen and the right wires, but the it's just not seeming to cooperate with what we have. Plus, when I tried to salvage it when we landed, a lot of internal stuff was fried as well."

"We need that radio, guys," Bellamy said, firmly. "That's our only chance at getting any more information about this area. They might even be able to drop some supplies down to us. But that won't matter unless we can talk to them, so keep it up. Finn, what's the status with ammo?"

"We're running low," Finn said. "We should switch to bow hunting."

"I thought we already did that!" he said, suddenly angry. They only had a few guns- pistols- but they had even less ammunition. Bellamy had tried to conserve it from the beginning, but it evidently had backfired.

"We did, but a few people decided not to listen."

"Damn it." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Someone on the Ark said there might be old supply depots from the war near here." Raven said.

Bellamy looked at her, thoughtful. "Do everything you can to get in touch with them. None of us have that much time left. Get back to work. Miller, Atom, and Finn, get the rest of the scouts together. Octavia, stay here and watch Clarke. I need Raven with Monty. Jasper, I guess you can tag along with them." Jasper looked offended and mumbled something about being smart, too and followed Raven and Monty down the ladder.

"Should I get volunteers too? Where are we going?" Finn asked.

"We're leaving camp for a couple days," he said, trying to hide his hesitation. "We can't wait for the Ark forever. Don't get anyone else. If something happens to us, I want there to be as few casualties as possible." Finn's face went white with sudden nervousness, but he did as he was told and began to gather the scouts with Atom and Miller. "Octavia, wait." Bellamy stopped her as soon as she had started to climb down the ladder. "Can you listen to me for a second?"

"What's up, big brother?" She had managed to convince Bellamy that she had nothing to do with the Grounder escape the week before, but he still had his suspicions- he knew her better than anyone.

"This mission is going to be dangerous," he told her with weary eyes.

"This world is dangerous, Bell," she said.

"No, Octavia. I mean there's a chance I might die. And I just need to tell you that if I do, I want you to do whatever you can to help Clarke keep everyone alive. Finn can take my place as head scout and I'll talk to him about that, but I want you to handle everything else. Can you do that for me?"

Octavia's face looked as if she was still trying to process what he'd just said. "You won't die, Bellamy. Don't talk like that."

"Octavia, I _could_ die. We need to face the fact that we _all_ might die. It's dangerous out there and if I get killed, the last thing I want is for these people's lives in the hands of another Murphy. So please, just promise me that you'll do this for me." He swallowed the burning lump in his throat. He could barely look at her.

Her eyes had grown teary and she still looked at him with concern, but she spoke with confidence. "I'll do anything for you, Bell." She lunged forward and embraced him, burying her face in his chest. He hugged her back and squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back the burning lump in his throat.

"Thank you," he said and he released her and started for the hatch, hiding his teary face from her as he went.

When his feet hit the floor of the first level of the ship, his eyes instinctively looked over to Clarke still lying on the metal table. She hadn't moved since he last saw her, which was a good thing; she needed her rest. He walked up to her, hesitantly.

"I got her, big bro," Octavia suddenly said from behind him. "Go do what ever you have to do." He hugged her and kissed her forehead once more and started for the door.

Raven caught Bellamy before he got outside, grabbing his arm. "Stop by the escape pod. Grab whatever scraps you can, like wire, circuit boards- basically anything that looks important. And Bellamy, please make sure Finn comes back safe."

"Thanks for the concern," he teased.

She rolled her eyes. "All of you should come back safe. But, like, especially Finn."

"I protect my people, Raven. I promise he'll come back all right."

She smiled, thanking him and he turned toward the doorway once more.


	13. Chapter 13

**Finally, a new POV. More are on their way, but Clarke and Bellamy are still the main focus in this story. I don't like to write more than one thing at a time, so after this fic is done, I'm thinking about writing another that focuses on the smaller characters that I don't think get enough credit on the show.**

 **Things will pick back up in this pretty soon. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed- your kind words are greatly appreciated! (Excuse any typos. Somehow I dont catch everything even though I edit, like, three times before posting.) Enjoy!**

13.

Octavia watched Bellamy leave camp and her stomach began doing somersaults. She had always looked up to her older brother. Since they day she was born, he always did whatever he could so that he could keep her and their mother safe. She had never known any other friend growing up, just Bellamy. She and him got along like water and oil a lot of the time, but she knew that he would always love her and protect her. He was the closest thing to a father figure she'd ever had.

He had put her in charge while he was gone and while Clarke was injured. She wondered how he trusted her to do anything after Lincoln escaped- she knew he knew it was her. But then again, it was _Bellamy_ ; he virtually trusted no one except his family. He relied on others like Clarke and Finn, but he didn't trust any of them. Even after the attack at the river, he didn't fully confide in Clarke. _Did he?_ He had left her alone with these people. She was the only person he cared about and she knew that he wouldn't leave her with people he didn't trust. She wondered what he wasn't telling her.

But then she realized something and her mind flashed back to when Murphy shot Clarke, just hours before. Even with an arrow in her chest, she had thrown herself in front of Bellamy to protect him. Octavia had watched the incident, but she never had enough time to process it. She looked over at the still-sleeping Clarke with eyes full of admiration and amazement. _She saved Bellamy's life._

"Octavia," Raven suddenly said, snapping her out of her daydreams, "do you mind helping us? We could use an extra pair of hands. We've almost got it down."

"Sure," she walked over to the three of them.

"Here, hold this while I wrap a wire around it." She handed Octavia a long metal staff, which she held in place with the ground bracing it. Raven knelt down and slowly began to wrap a long, thin wire up its length.

"What's this for?" Octavia asked, curious.

"It's the antenna for the radio. We'll have to climb to the top of this ship to mount it somehow, but as soon as we get the radio station figured out, we'll be ready to broadcast to the Ark."

"Will it be done soon?"

"You're as patient as your brother," Raven smirked and looked up.

Octavia smiled. "Trust me, I'm far more patient than he his. And _I_ was the one who was locked under the floor for sixteen years."

"Hate to see what would have happened if you all had it the other way around."

"I hate to break up the gossip session," Jasper suddenly said, "but, Raven, we need that antenna done. Everything is ready to go."

"No way!" she said and dropped what she was doing and walked over to examine what Monty and Jasper were working on. "Monty, you did it!"

"It was simple really," Monty said. "All we had to do was replace, like, everything with scrap metal." Jasper gave his best friend a contorted high-five and beamed at him.

"Are the connectors frayed?" Raven asked. Octavia wondered what a connector was and how it could be frayed.

"Of course not," Monty said. "I'm not an amateur, Raven."

"Sorry, I keep forgetting who was a Zero-G Mechanic and who stayed on the ship with Wick in engineering."

"Ouch," Jasper said.

Raven and Monty smiled, jokingly. Octavia barely understood anything they were talking about, but she laughed along. Raven bent down and continued to densely wrap the wire around the rod. Octavia suddenly heard a groan coming from the other side of the room.

"Clarke," she said and hurried over to the table, followed by Raven, Monty and Jasper. "Clarke, how are you feeling?"

Clarke's eyes squinted against the evening light flooding into the room. "I'm super sore." She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked more ghostly than usual, but at least she was talking.

"Yeah well, you _were_ shot," Octavia said. "Twice."

"Was I?" Clarke said, smiling weakly. She began to sit up.

"No, lay back down," Octavia said, stopping her. "You need to rest."

"How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours."

"Then I'm fine. Help me up. Where's Bellamy?" She slowly swung her legs off the table and Octavia braced her as she stood.

"He left," Raven said.

Clarke's eyes widened and shot over in her direction. "He did _what_?"

"He took the scouts out looking for supplies. We're about finished with the radio, so if we get in contact with the Ark, they can tell us where there might be some useful stuff located. I remember your mom talking about how there might be supply depots somewhere near here that were left over from the war." Raven paused when she saw Clarke's face at the mention of her mother.

"So Bellamy just left and is blindly wandering through the forest? How could you let him do that?" Clarke said, suddenly angry. Her sudden burst of energy made her wince. The arrow had fractured her sternum and it every time she spoke, it send a pain shooting through her chest.

"It wasn't just me, dude. They went back to my escape pod," Raven answered, defensively. "They're getting materials that we can use."

"Use for what? You said the radio is basically finished."

"Calm down, Princess. He didn't want to wait on an answer from the Ark. We don't even know if the signal will be strong enough reach them, anyways."

"Don't call me that."

"Guys, stop. This isn't getting us anywhere." Octavia said. "Bellamy and Finn are gone, but we need to focus. This camp needs to run like he never left. So you three, go finish the transmitter and mount the antenna. When you're done with that, figure out something else to do."

"Should we start trying to build bombs?" Jasper said, suddenly wide-eyed. "I'm good at that."

"Sure," Octavia said. "Don't blow anything up. Raven you got this?"

"Yeah," she said and shot a nasty look at Clarke. She glared back.

When Raven followed the two boys up the ladder, Octavia turned back to Clarke. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Clarke, I have an idea. You're not going to like it."

"This should be good."

"I want to bring Lincoln in to help us."

Clarke began to laugh sarcastically. "Octavia, you're hilarious."

"I'm serious."

"Why the fuck would you want to do that?"

"Remember all those times when I said I was going to get berries?" she whispered.

Clarke sighed. "Don't tell me…"

"Yeah, I went to go see him. He trusts me, Clarke. And I trust him. He knows the Grounders and how they think. With his help, we can be ready for them."

Clarke paused, uncertain. Octavia had a point. "Bellamy is not going to like this."

"Why do you think I'm telling you and not him? C'mon, Clarke he can help us. You know I'm right."

She looked at Octavia and narrowed her eyes. "Fine," she said. "But if shit goes wrong, it's on you. And _you_ have to be the one to tell Bellamy."


	14. Chapter 14

14.

Nighttime outside the walls of the camp was terrifying. Even Bellamy, the fearless king, was a bit nervous about their expedition into the wilderness, but he didn't let the others know that. They had reached the sight of Raven's escape pod that night and they had stripped the ship of all "important-looking" things. Miller had even found a few walkie-talkies hidden in a plastic case, which relieved Bellamy of his uncertainty.

"Let's stay here for the night," he said, slinging his second pack off his shoulder.

"Should we get stuff for a fire?" Miller asked.

"No, the Grounders might see it," he said. "Sleep close. Atom and Monroe, you're on first watch. I'll go on with Miller in a few hours, then Luke and Ryan, and then me again with Finn. We pack up at dawn, so get some rest."

"We should have brought a tent," Ryan said. "Sleeping out in the open like this is dangerous. Especially with Murphy now, running around."

"Look guys," Bellamy started, "I'm sorry that these aren't the best conditions right now, but the reason we're out here is to bring back things that we need, like tents. So just suck it up for now. Think of everyone back at camp."

"I bet Murphy is watching us right now," Monroe said eerily, her voice quiet.

Bellamy shifted uncomfortably and resisted the urge to look around. "Get some rest."

He pulled a stiff blanket out of his pack and flattened it on the ground. He lay down on it and wrapped himself up with the extra fabric. The others followed his lead and bedded down for the night.

"Can we tell ghost stories?" Luke asked to Bellamy's right.

"Shut up and sleep or I'll call the Grounders to come kill you."

Bellamy smirked as he recognized Finn's voice. He heard Miller snicker next to him and he closed his eyes. The night was peaceful. The sound of insects humming filled his ears as he slowly drifted off to sleep. But there was something else about the night, which entered his mind. There was another presence among the trees, watching them. He didn't think much of it before, but he knew something was out there now, watching them as they slept. Maybe it was some animal, a Grounder… or Murphy.

…

The morning sun came with thick overcast clouds, which covered the soft colors of the sunrise. Bellamy was the first one up and packing while the rest were drowsy from the lack of comfort from sleeping on the forest floor.

"It looks like it might storm," Finn said quietly so that only Bellamy would hear.

"It's probably just a little rain, nothing too severe," he mumbled. "Alright, guys, let's get going."

"I think there was a rock under my back the whole night," Ryan whined.

"Quit bitching and let's go," Bellamy said, only half joking. "We have a lot of ground to cover and it's probably best if we split up. Atom, take Luke, Ryan and Monroe and head north. Miller, Finn, and I will go south. Look for anything that could have withstood a nuclear war and 97 years of weathering."

"Which way is north?" Luke said.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and pointed behind him. "That way. Always know your surroundings, Luke. It's not rocket science." Luke quickly nodded and fell in line behind Atom. "Meet back here by nightfall. If you aren't here, I'm going to assume the Grounders got to you, so if something goes wrong, you're on your own. Good luck guys."

Atom quietly led his group away from the escape pod while Bellamy took his in the opposite direction. As he left the pod's crash site, he thought he smelled chemical fumes in the air. _Must be fuel leakage from the escape pod._

"So, what exactly are we looking for? Grounders?" Miller asked.

"Yes, but if we're lucky, no," Finn said. "We should probably establish an idea of where they live. Our big focus is trying to find this mythical supply depot from the war that happened 97 years ago."

"Can't Clarke just tell us where the Grounders are? They captured he and she escaped somehow, so she probably knows where their village is, right?"

"If Clarke knew something, she would have told us," Bellamy said, almost defensively. "We can't rely on her for everything. She's still learning too."

Miller didn't respond- the hint of harshness in Bellamy's tone was enough to silence him. They hiked through the forest, winding between the tree trunks. The woods weren't as dense as they were back toward the camp and he was quietly thankful that he wasn't tripping as much as he has in the past. He was finally getting the hang of the whole "Earth-thing."

He took a moment to look around at the trees and the colors of the forest. Fog hung low throughout the land, making it seem as if the ground was smoking. Even the grayness of the overcast morning light, leaking in through the canopy gave him a sense of comfort. He still hadn't gotten used to the air. It was fresh and clean unlike the recycled oxygen that he had breathed his whole life on the Ark. This was a beautiful planet, despite the many monsters that lurked in the shadows.

He looked over his shoulder to make sure his two companions were still with him. They were carefully watching their steps with focused faces. He wanted to smile when he thought of the first time he had clumsily ventured into the woods: his first encounter with Clarke. He had held the same pistol he was still carrying to her head. Somehow, their relationship had somehow evolved into her saving both his sister's and his own life. _I'll never get bored with you, will I, Princess?_ He hid a smile from Miller and Finn.


	15. Chapter 15

15.

The night before, Raven had gotten the antenna mounted and the radio transmitting a replaying message, but there was still no response from the Ark. Octavia personally thought the assignment was pointless, but Bellamy wanted it done, so it would get done. Jasper and Raven had already begun to build explosives, but Monty had opted out, saying something along the lines of "not my thing."

"I don't like this, Octavia," Clarke mumbled and adjusted her arm in the sling Octavia had made for her. "This is a mistake." Her shoulder and chest pained her even more than the day before. Bruising had formed around the two wounds and breathing with a fractured sternum was harder than it looked.

"I promise you, this will work," Octavia said and looked up at her with reassuring eyes. That morning, she had seen the lily resting on the limb of a tree just outside the wall and she knew this was her chance. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Octavia walked through the same gate that her brother had just the evening before. She picked up her pace to a jog and headed in the direction of Lincoln's cave. She wasn't so sure about her plan, but she needed to try something. Bellamy's "just get a bigger hammer" approach wasn't going to get them very far- what they needed was a tactical advantage.

Octavia caught sight of the entrance to the cave and ran towards it. She burst inside. "Lincoln!"

She felt a presence behind her and she whipped around, drawing her knife and held it against someone's neck. "You're getting better at that," a low voice whispered. The blade of a sword was poking her ribcage through her shirt.

Octavia's face cracked into a smile. "Lincoln," she breathed, dropping her weapon. He lowered his blade and pulled her close by the small of her back and pushed his lips to hers. She kissed him passionately, bringing her hands to the back of his neck.

"You got my flower," he said when they had pulled apart.

"Yes, and I actually needed to talk to you. I want you to come back with me."

His face suddenly hardened and her took a step back. "Octavia… Why?"

"We need you to help us. Clarke agrees with me. You'll be safe."

"And your brother? I don't really enjoy being 'tortured'."

"Don't worry about Bell, he'd not even in camp right now."

Lincoln's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"He went looking for a supply depot."

"Oh, no. Octavia, he's in danger."

"What?"

"My people. They're setting up an ambush. They didn't tell me what it was for. I thought it was for the Mountain Men, but I should have known. They don't travel that far."

"Oh my, God. Lincoln, you have to come with me. Please. You said you don't belong with your people anymore. I'm offering you a new home. Please, trust me. Help _my_ people."

Without a word, he grabbed his pack and led the way out of the cave.

…

"Movement outside the gate!" Octavia heard someone call from the top of the wall as they sprinted towards camp. "It's Octavia! Who is that with her?"

The gate started to swing open and she burst into camp with Lincoln on her heels. As soon as someone recognized what Lincoln was, they immediately drew their weapons. The two of them were suddenly surrounded. Lincoln's only instinct told him to draw his sword in defense, but he resisted the urge for Octavia's sake.

Clarke pushed her way through the crowd of a few pistols and shabbily made bows and approached Octavia. She glanced at Lincoln, wearily. "Lower your weapons," she commanded.

"Clarke, Bellamy is in danger," Octavia said, her voice panicked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Lincoln said the Grounders are setting up an ambush."

Clarke looked at the Grounder, his eyes nervous but steady. Dangerous. "What kind of ambush?"

"It's too late," Lincoln said, quietly. "They're too far away to get to in time."

"What kind of ambush?" Clarke repeated, louder.

"Fire." He looked up, his eyes falling to the horizon and suddenly, he began to panic in his own stoic way. "It's already starting."


	16. Chapter 16

**Another multi-chapter update! I'm really excited that Lincoln is finally back- there's a lot in store for him. Anyways, I hope you're liking it so far. Review away! (Oh, and please don't mind any mistakes with my medical and mechanical/electrical references- I know the bare minimum about that kind of stuff, so please be patient with me, as most of those "facts" that are in this fic are from WebMD and Wikipedia.)**

16.

Bellamy smelled it before he saw it. His eyes widened and he caught sight of a thick black smoke rising from the treetops not too far in front of them. "Guys," he said, frightened. He started to sprint in the opposite direction. "Guys, run!" he yelled as he grabbed a confused Finn and Miller. They stumbled after him and were eventually were able to match his long strides. He hurtled every obstacle there was, adrenaline blinding him. _What is this? Where are we?_ The answers were all too obvious.

 _Grounders. We're on their land._ They ran harder through the trees, their hearts pounding and minds racing. Bellamy quickly tried to gather his surroundings, but everything started to look the same. He heard Finn and Miller panting next to him, their footsteps thundering over the ground as they ran. He snuck a glance over his shoulder and he almost tripped when he saw it. Huge orange and yellow flames had begun to rip through the forest. They were gaining on them by the second.

He heard a scream. _Shit, Monroe!_ They must not have been too far from the other group. He ran in the direction of the noise, pushing his body to go faster. He caught sight of the group of four, scrambling away from them and from the fire. "Go! RUN!" he yelled. They ran.

Bellamy gained on them, but the fire was gaining faster. He felt the heat on his neck tearing apart the woods behind them as they ran. Suddenly, he heard a thud to the right of him. Atom had fallen. Monroe saw it happen. She slowed her strides to help him, but Bellamy grabbed her. "Don't stop!"

"Atom!" Monroe shrieked. Bellamy glanced behind him once more, just in time to see Atom's silhouette be consumed by fire. Monroe screamed again. They had fallen behind and the flames were practically licking their ankles.

And then the rain came. The first plump drop of water found its way to Bellamy's forehead. But soon, a torrential downpour had slowed the fire, allowing Bellamy and Monroe to put some distance between them and the flames. They kept on running for what seemed like ages, but they were able to catch up with the rest of the group. They were all leaned up against trees, panting and coughing as a result of the unpleasant combination of smoke and exhaustion. Bellamy put his hands on his knees and tried to regain his breath. Monroe collapsed next to him, crying.

"Where's Atom?" Luke asked.

Bellamy looked up at him and shook his head. "He fell."

Finn's face sank and he looked back to where the flames were dying down.

"What the fuck just happened?" Miller asked, frantically.

Bellamy followed Finn's gaze out toward the flames. He half expected Atom to come stumbling out of the smoke. He gritted his teeth. "Grounders. They made the first move. It's about fucking time we made ours. Get your shit. We're going back."

…

In the rain, the woods were much more difficult to navigate and when they finally got back to the gate, soaked and nearly fried to a crisp, they were relieved to see Octavia rush to hug Bellamy. He quickly scanned the crowd for Clarke's face, but there was no sign of her.

"Bell, I thought you were dead!" Octavia said. "Lincoln said that-."

"Wait, Lincoln? The _Grounder_?"

Octavia's face shifted. "Don't be mad. He's helping us."

" _What?_ " He pushed Octavia off and stormed to the drop ship, figuring that was the place the Grounder would be. He found Clarke instead. She looked relieved at the sight of him, but her face immediately shifted to anger.

"What the fuck, Bellamy?" she said, scolding him. Her chest tightened from outburst and she winced. "What were you thinking?"

"Where is he?" he said, ignoring her.

She clenched her jaw and reluctantly motioned to the other side of the room. A dark figure moved out of the shadows. _A Grounder_. Seething, Bellamy rushed at him in a fury. He thrust his arm out and pinned the Grounder to the wall by this throat. "You son of a bitch," he hissed through gritted teeth.

"Bellamy, stop." Clarke said, calmly from behind him. "He hasn't hurt anyone. He's here to help."

He glanced at her and hesitantly released his hand from Lincoln's throat. "You're okay with this?" he asked in disbelief. "After what they did to you?"

"I wasn't at first, but we need him. Octavia trusts him. Where's Atom? I saw Finn, Monroe, Miller-."

"Atom's dead." Bellamy's jaw clenched as he spoke. "He was killed in the fire started by _his_ people." Clarke froze, shocked. Bellamy's eyes shifted to Octavia standing in the doorway with her arms folded. "How could you?" His voice sounded broken- defeated.

"Bell…"

"I don't even want to hear it, Octavia. I thought I could trust you with the safety of everyone in this camp, but you betrayed that. And you let her, Clarke! After everything that happened yesterday, I thought you'd be more careful."

"Lincoln is here to help us, Bellamy. I don't like it just as much as you, but we don't really have any other choice considering what just happened with the fire. This means war."

Bellamy looked at her with unbelieving eyes. "You killed us all by trusting him."

"I know when they are planning to attack," Lincoln suddenly said. Everyone turned to him. He seemed unfazed by Bellamy's acts of aggression.

"Look, buddy. I'll give you one chance to give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right here and now," Bellamy said, his voice low.

"A fortnight," he said simply. "That's when they march on the camp. They will be crawling everywhere outside these walls until then, waiting to pick you all off like game. The Commander is gathering the clans for the first time since the Mountain Men attacked. They're preparing for battle."

"How long is a fortnight?" Finn asked.

"Two weeks," Clarke answered quietly.

Bellamy didn't know what to make of it. _Why would he help us?_ He glanced back at Octavia. For whatever deranged reason, the Grounder trusted her and she him. He thought back to the drawings in the Grounder's book. He thought that he had been spying on the camp, but he was only watching one person: Octavia. _Why her? Why my little sister?_

"Bellamy, we don't have a choice," Clarke said, walking up to him. "We need his help." Her eyes were desperate and tired. She looked like she was in pain from the chest and shoulder wounds. He felt her pleading with him, begging him to make the right decision.

Bellamy looked around at the rest of the people in the room in disbelief. He felt virtually betrayed. "He can help us," he finally said and he started to leave the room. "But I'll never trust a Grounder." He disappeared back into the pouring rain.


	17. Chapter 17

**Here's a nice long chapter for ya. Thanks for reading, I love you all.**

17.

Clarke paced the floor of the drop ship in an attempt to calm herself. She was furious with Bellamy, and him with her. Just the day before he had put himself in an unbelievably dangerous situation by going out on his own. She understood why he did it, but it didn't change the fact that if something happened to him, she would be stuck with all these people depending on her to lead them alone. She resented him for putting her in that position, but she almost admired him for doing it as well. He must have known it was a stupid thing to do, but all he was trying to do was help his people.

"That pacing really isn't helping me focus at all, Clarke," Raven said, snapping her back to reality. She ignored her.

"Clarke, can you please calm down?" Octavia said, begging her.

"How am I supposed to keep everyone alive if Bellamy is running off and putting himself and the other scouts in deliberate danger?" Clarke suddenly burst out. "Fucking ridiculous. It was so much easier when it was just me down here."

"Clarke, shut up," Raven said.

"And to think that-."

"Clarke! Shut the fuck up! I'm getting something." Raven adjusted her headphones and wiring coming off the camera and feeding into the wall. The screen flickered and everyone stared at it, almost expecting it to burst into flames

"I'm only getting broken audio. Ark Station? This is Raven Reyes transmitting from the hundred's drop ship. Do you read me? Over." She paused and stared at the screen, clutching the headphones to her ears. "Ark Station, this is Raven Reyes from the drop ship. Do you read me? Over." The screen flashed to life and, suddenly, Chancellor Jaha's flickering face occupied the screen. Raven's face burst into a prideful grin. She covered the microphone with one hand. "Get Bellamy. Clarke, come here and put on this extra headset. Chancellor Jaha, this is Raven Reyes. I am on site of the drop ship with the rest of the hundred."

Clarke put on a headset with her free hand and sat next to Raven. Chancellor Jaha's voice filled her ears.

"Clarke," his face was side with shocked. She heard voices mumbling in the background. _They still thought I was dead_. "We all thought you were dead."

Clarke stared at him. "Sorry to hear that, Chancellor. As you can see, I'm still the last Griffin standing."

He forced a smile and ignored her snide comment. _Jaha, you traitor._ "It's very nice to see you alive and well. What happened to your arm?"

"Took a nasty fall," she said briefly, and she felt Raven glance at her sideways. "Chancellor, in case this transmission is somehow interrupted, we need to discuss a few things."

"I'm listening, as well as the rest of the council."

"We need to know where we can access supplies. Winter is coming, and we're running low on blankets and warm clothes. It's honestly kind of bullshit that you sent us down here with little to no information."

The Chancellor looked taken aback. "We know just about as much as you do, Clarke."

"Then what's this I hear about a supplies depot somewhere near the landing site?"

"Actually," Councilman Kane spoke now as the camera shifted to him, "it's only about four miles northeast of your location. Here are the coordinates."

Raven grabbed a dull pencil and a piece of scrap paper and copied the coordinates to the location of the supply depot. "Thank you, Mr. Kane," Clarke said, purposefully mistitling him. "May I ask why this location wasn't given to the hundred before launch?"

"The hundred were test subjects after your mission had failed," Jaha said, the camera cutting back to him. "We were supposed to have radio contact with everyone, but somehow, that fell through."

"Yes, somehow," Clarke smiled. "Well, Chancellor Jaha, now that we have that cleared up, I think we can call it a day. Thank you for your time, Councilmen and women."

"Clarke…" Raven mumbled beside her as she removed her headset and stand up. She turned and saw Bellamy standing right behind her, and she handed him the headset. "All yours," she brushed passed him and made her way towards the door.

"Chancellor Jaha," Bellamy said. Clarke paused. She slowly leaned her back against the doorway so that she was just in earshot of Bellamy's half of the conversation.

"Yes that's right… No, I don't think so. It's getting colder every day… Are you sure it's still out there after all this time? I don't want to risk exposure… Thank you, Councilman Kane… I'm sorry Chancellor, Wells was killed three days ago."

Clarke froze at the mention of Wells's name.

"Someone named John Murphy murdered him. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, I thought Clarke would have."

Clarke rushed back over to the table and held her hand out for Raven's headset and for once, she didn't argue. She took a seat next to Bellamy and looked into the Chancellor's cold, sad, and pixelated eyes. "Wells's death was a tragedy, Chancellor. He died in my arms."

Jaha remained silent.

"I bet you wish you could talk to him now," she said, suddenly. Bellamy glanced at her, uneasily. "I do too. I thought he was the one who betrayed my father and got him floated. But he wasn't the one to tell you, my mother did. He let me blame him for something that he didn't even do, for so long. Now that he is gone, I regret every second I hated him. I was never able to ask for his forgiveness. But now, I'll never be able to forgive my mother for what she did, either. I'll never talk to her again. You took that away from me. I know why she died, Raven told me. She was trying to help her escape to Earth because she still believed in the hundred, while the rest of you sorry fucks ditched us and left us for dead."

"Clarke," Kane spoke now. Jaha had practically gone into shock. "We made a judgment call. I was personally against bailing on the hundred, but your mother and myself were overruled. We still believed in you, but there were bigger issues at hand aboard the Ark-."

"Oh, I know all about the little oxygen problem you all have," Clarke said, fuming. "My father was the one who found out about it and you floated him to keep him quiet, remember?"

"Clarke, please," Kane said. "What your father was planning on doing would have caused a panic."

"Look, your graciousness, I frankly don't care what you have to say unless it's going to save the lives of my people. So hey, Earth is inhabitable! Test run over! You can come down now! Just please, when you get here, don't fucking patronize me and talk about my parents like you actually give a shit. Man the fuck up and stop playing politics for two fucking seconds and save your people's lives. Now, I have to go save mine." With that, she flung off her headset, grabbed the paper with the coordinates, and stormed out of the ship. Bellamy was right behind her and he caught her uninjured arm, turning her to face him.

"What?" she hissed at him.

He held out his hand, silently asking for the paper. She rolled her eyes and gave it to him, knowing that going outside of camp in her condition wasn't the smartest idea. She looked into his concerned eyes and saw that he wasn't angry with her about Lincoln anymore, and she instantly forgave him

"Was all that necessary?" Bellamy asked, fighting back a smile.

"If you're going to lecture me, you'll be wasting your time."

"I wasn't going to lecture you. I just can't believe that Clarke Griffin actually had the balls to cuss the Chancellor and his Council into the ground."

She looked down at her feet. "That bad?"

"No, not bad at all. You said everything I'd always wanted to say to them. It might come back to haunt you later, but… thank you." He was smirking, but his eyes were sincere

"When will you leave for the depot?" she asked, changing the subject.

"As soon as Finn gets everyone together."

"Take Lincoln with you." He scowled. "He can help you. If you don't trust him, trust your sister. She cares for him."

"Don't remind me," he mumbled.

"Be careful. No more running from wildfires," she half joked, masking her true concern.

"No promises, Princess," he said as he turned back toward the drop ship. He looked over his shoulder. "Don't get shot."

"No promises, your highness."

…

When Bellamy, Lincoln, and the rest of the scouts returned with a plethora of blankets and large sheets of waterproof material that they could use to make more tents, they also carried something that surprised Clarke: assault rifles and ammunition. She felt a bit nervous at the sight of them all, but she knew they needed them. Bellamy had put Finn in charge of the guns, considering that he was the most trustworthy to be in that position.

"Some of the bullets are duds," Finn said. "The gunpowder in them was probably corrupted. They're, like, a hundred years old." Him, Clarke, Miller, Lincoln, Octavia, Bellamy, and Raven had all gathered in the drop ship to have their dinner of deer meat, rabbit legs, and walnuts.

"Jasper and I can handle that, but it'll cost us some ammo. We won't be able to salvage everything."

"Even with the guns, we don't stand a chance against the grounders," Miller said, chewing his food. "There's too many

"The boy is right," Lincoln said, playing with his rabbit leg. "With the clans united, there're at least a thousand of them. There are only a hundred of you."

"So basically, we're fucked," Octavia said.

"No, there has to be a way," Bellamy said, thoughtfully. He had barely touched his food.

"Unless you have a nuke up your sleeve, we're fucked, dude," Raven reiterated. But then, her eyebrows synched together. "Wait… That's it! Bombs!" Finn sighed and shook his head- he'd always been the pacifist of the group.

Lincoln looked up, confounded. "Yes, that would work. They've never encountered those on the battlefield before."

"And you have?" Raven said.

"Yes."

"But where-?"

"Can you make one strong enough to blow up a bridge?" he asked, cutting her off.

She smiled, deviously. "Fuck yeah. There's probably some hydrazine in the engine of this thing. I bet I could tap into it and with Jasper's help, we could make some sick shit."

"Sounds good, but what exactly will we be blowing up?" Clarke asked, suddenly. Her face was emotionless.

"Grounders," Bellamy said. "We need to kill as many of those fuckers as we can."

"Yeah? How? Wait for them to cross the bridge so that we can hit them there? That will only slow them down. They will regroup and come at us even harder. So yes, Octavia, we're basically fucked." She bit into her deer meat filet and chewed.

"We'll figure out something, Clarke," Finn said, attempting to reassure her.

She raised her eyebrows and popped a few walnuts into her mouth and washed them down with her drink. "Hmm."

"If you're finished, Clarke," Raven snapped at her, "Jasper and I should have enough time to wire the bomb for the bridge, and then that will buy us some more time to figure out everything else." Clarke just chewed while the rest of them stared at her, waiting for a response.

"We should try to take out as many as we can at the bridge, though," Bellamy finally said. "That means we can't set it until they're about to march."

Raven nodded. "Oh, then that's easy. I was going to go for something more elaborate, but I guess simple will work, too."

"Can you can Jasper set it, then?" Bellamy asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Finn jumped in.

"Finn, I can do it," Raven protested.

"I know you can, it's just that it's going to be a really close call with the Grounders."

"I know."

"We can work that part out later," Bellamy said.

"I'll set it," Clarke said, suddenly. Everyone looked over at her again, surprised. "Until then, we need to gather medical supplies and a lot of it," she went on, her tone shifting. "Lincoln, I trust you and I have a lot to discuss about that."

Lincoln nodded. "I have some antidotes I can give you for your supply. You'll be needing it if you're ever shot with one of their arrows."

"Trust me, I know."


	18. Chapter 18

18.

After Lincoln and Clarke had exchanged medical notes the next morning, Clarke had demanded that they start gathering medical supplies for the battle that was soon to come. Bellamy's uncertainties about her leaving camp with just her and her small group resulted in the scouts pairing up with them, one gun to a pair. They split up to cover more ground, as Clarke had told them what they needed and what to look for.

"Can't believe I'm stuck with you," Clarke said. She and Bellamy were the last people to exit the gate. She had ditched the sling, claiming that she felt better, but the pain in the middle of her chest said otherwise.

"Better believe it, Princess." They headed west of the camp to a place where Clarke knew there was an abundance of roots they needed. "What was your problem yesterday at dinner?"

"PMSing, I guess," she joked as she ducked under a tree limb.

"Seriously, Clarke. What was it?"

"Seriously, Bellamy, don't worry about it."

"Whatever. Just trying to make conversation." They walked in silence for a while until Bellamy spoke up again. "What happened when the Grounders captured you?"

Clarke glanced back at him, annoyed. "When are you going to stop asking questions?"

"When you answer them."

"Well, I'm not going to, so you'd better just give it up."

He smirked and managed to keep his mouth shut until they reached a small stream, where Clarke bent down and started to dig. Bellamy scanned the trees for any possible threats.

"What are you looking for?" he asked after a few minutes of her digging.

She pulled out a thick, wood-like stem and smiled. "This is a kind of root that will probably end up saving your life."

"What is it?"

"I don't know what it's called, but when ground into a paste, it stops the bleeding from even the deepest wound."

"Who taught you how to do this stuff?"

"Myself, mostly. But I've observed the Grounders before. It took me a while to get the hang of it all, but if you're as clumsy as me, you learn pretty quickly." Bellamy took the root from Clarke and turned it over in his hands, fascinated. "We better keep moving. There are a few more stops we need to make." She took the root from him and tossed it into her pack.

They wandered through the forest, Clarke stopping once in a while to pick some kind of healing flower, or chip special bark off a tree. They had just started to turn back when Bellamy asked, "What happened with your father and Wells?"

"You heard me talking to Jaha," she said, her jaw clenching. "My father was floated for wanting to tell the entire Ark about the oxygen problem."

"No, but what actually happened?"

"Well, what happened to your mother?" Clarke snapped. She felt guilty when Bellamy fell silent, but why would she want to talk about one of the most terrifying and traumatic thing she had experienced as a child? She kicked a rock as she walked, frustrated.

Then, suddenly, the forest silenced. She paused and saw a swarm of ants scuttling along at her feet. Then she heard it. _The fog horn._ The distant sound of the Grounders' warning echoed through the trees. Clarke didn't even have to see it for her instincts to kick in.

"We need to go," Clarke said and she grabbed Bellamy's arm. He looked at her, confused. Her eyes widened when she looked over his shoulder and saw traces of the green fog beginning to roll through the trees towards them from the west. "Now, Bellamy." He looked behind him and they took off in a blur, heading back to camp. Pain ripped through Clarke's chest, but she ignored it. Bellamy matched her strides as they sprinted, the fog gaining on them quickly. They were about a mile from camp. _It's too far, we'll never make it_. And then she had an idea.

"This way!" She veered off to the left, dodging a few trees and then suddenly, they were standing on top of a hatch covered by leaves and sticks. "Hurry, go down. I'm right behind you." Bellamy bent down, turned the handle and disappeared into the hole. Clarke began climbing right after him, closing and locking the hatch behind her. When she was down, it took a moment for her to find an electric lantern in the pitch black, but she finally switched one on and noticed that Bellamy was standing not six inches from her, breathing heavily.

"What the hell was that?" he mumbled. He realized how close they were and took a step back.

"Acid fog," Clarke said wincing and touching her chest. "Just another wonderful thing about this godforsaken planet."

"Are you alright," he asked, his eyes worried.

"I'm fine." She turned and placed the lantern on the table.

Bellamy slowly turned his head around the room to gather his surroundings. "What is this place?" he finally asked. He advanced towards the far wall and examined all her paintings, drawings, and sketches.

"Home, sweet home," she said, blushing. She didn't know why but she hated when other people looked at her work. Maybe it was a perfectionist thing.

"You lived here?"

"Before you all landed, yeah. This was it."

"And these are all yours?" He turned to her, his eyes misty.

She blushed harder and started taking a sketch of the mountainous horizon down. "Yeah. Don't look at them. They're nothing. It just used to get really lonely."

"No stop," he said, grabbing her wrist. He was awestruck. "They're amazing. It's almost like I'm not even underground."

"Thanks." She plopped herself on a chair and swung her bag onto the table. "Make yourself at home."

"I hope the others made it to shelter," he said turning away from the wall and joining her at the table.

"We were the farthest from camp. I told them not to wander too far."

"You don't have any booze down here, do you?" he teased, throwing a smirk at her over his shoulder.

Her eyes lit up. "Actually…" She walked to the bed and lifted up her mattress. She had stashed one bottle of what she figured was whiskey there when she was last here with Wells. "I knew this would come in handy."

"Hell yes," he said, taking the bottle from her. He uncorked the top and took a swig from the bottle, grimacing as it burned his throat. "Amazing." She took the bottle back and took a few gulps. He raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Princess can drink. Who knew?"

"I'm not all business and organization. I can have fun," she said and took another sip, grimacing. "It's disgusting. I've never liked it. It just makes me feel lighter… like I don't have to worry about anything other than what's in this hole."

"No one ever drinks for the taste," he said, taking the bottle back. She shrugged, feeling warm from the alcohol. "I used to make my own on the Ark."

"No way. Guardsman Bellamy Blake made moonshine?"

"I was never a guardsman. But yeah, I did. After my mom died and Octavia got thrown in lock up… I kind of took a turn for the worst."

Clarke looked up as he took another swig. "It's kind of hard not to in that situation."

He shrugged and passed her the bottle. They drank in silence for a while until Bellamy asked, "So, you're an artist?"

"Well, no. I just like art and painting and drawing."

"So, you're an artist."

"Sure. I'm an artist," she said, smiling bashfully.

"It's incredible, Clarke," he said, looking around the room once more. "It's all so beautiful."

"It's nature."

"That's what makes it beautiful."

She looked at him and put the bottle to her lips once more, but she tasted nothing. "It's empty."

"Well, I think we've both had enough, anyways."

"My mother killed my father," she said, suddenly with a quiet voice. He looked up, surprised.

"Clarke you don't have to tell me-."

"She knew he wanted to tell everyone about the defect, so she told Jaha." Bellamy stared at her as she spoke, unsure of what to say. "Wells was the only person I told about it, so I thought he was the one who told his dad. But I think I always knew it was my mom who did it. I just didn't want to face the truth. Now, they're both gone... May we meet again, guys." She raised the empty bottle and glanced up at the ceiling.

Bellamy shifted in his chair and looked down at the floor. "What happened when the grounders captured you, Clarke?"

She looked at him and smiled, hesitating to answer. "I was watching them one day. I was down by the river getting water, but they were there first. I was so shocked to see them. 'Humans on Earth?' I was so excited; I almost got up and went to them. But then one of them saw me. They drew their bows and started firing at me. They didn't dare cross the river because that's where our little friend, Jaws, was lurking. One of the arrows nicked my shoulder, and I took off. I was so confused why they were so hostile towards me. It just didn't make any sense at the time. I woke up in the middle of the night from a fever, and that's when I knew the arrow was poisoned."

"So you got away?" Bellamy said. He was staring at her, intrigued by every word.

"Yeah, but the next morning, I set out to try to find something that would help with the poison. I was dehydrated like nothing I've ever experienced before, so I went to the river, but they got to me before I was even halfway." She paused and ignored the pangs of anxiety in her gut. She smiled, ironically amused, and glanced at Bellamy. "The next thing I knew, I was cured and my bracelet was gone, but I was strung up by my hands in the middle of their village. That day, they beat me until I wished I was dead, with whips and clubs and stones... They put me in a wooden cage for what seemed like years, but it was only a few days. They questioned me, asking me over and over, 'When are your people coming?' I tried to tell them that they'll never come because they had taken my bracelet, but they either didn't believe me, or they didn't care. I laid there in the mud and sun and rain until the middle of the night one day... I never saw their face, but they opened the cage told me to run. So I did."

"Someone let you out?"

She nodded. "None of it made any sense. It still doesn't." Bellamy just looked at her, shocked. She blushed. "What?"

He shook his head. "I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Lead. Just be someone that people can rely on; that I can rely on. You saved us, Clarke. I was so stupid before you came along. All I wanted was power and vengeance. I hated the chancellor and the council and what they did to my family, and I was too busy trying to prove to everyone that I could be better than Jaha and Kane and all those pricks that I forgot to focus on the bigger picture. Survival. You were down here all this time being tortured and fighting for your life everyday, alone. And somehow, you managed to gather some kind of profound strength to save us. If it hadn't been for you, I probably would have gotten everyone killed by now."

She smiled and leaned back in her chair. "I doubt that, Blake. You have a good heart. You would have wised up eventually."

"I was going to kill Murphy," he said, painfully. "I was going to pull the trigger, even after you told me not to. But there was something about the way you said 'no more death' that just did it for me."

"Death doesn't solve anything. It never has. Not on the Ark and not down here."

"I wish you were on the council when they caught Octavia," he only half joked. "Maybe my mother would still be alive." Clarke looked over at him. His eyes were somber and hazy from the whiskey. "I was going to kill Murphy… She would be so disappointed with me if she were here. She raised me to be good, to be kind. I don't know what I'm turning into."

"This world changes people, Bellamy, but we are not our demons."

"I just want to keep Octavia and the rest of our people safe."

She smiled knowingly at him. _I do too._ "I think it's safe to go up now. I'll go check." She scaled the ladder and cracked the hatch, just so she could catch a glimpse outside. "We're good. Let's go."


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm super sorry for the delay. It has been a hectic week. Here's a little something I whipped up between classes and work. I hope everyone is still enjoying it! Thanks for reading- more content is coming.**

19.

"I think we can go outside now," Lincoln said. Octavia had luckily been able to get everyone inside the drop ship after had Lincoln explained the meaning of the foghorn. No one except the scouts and Clarke's team were left outside. _Oh, no. Bellamy…_

Lincoln must have seen Octavia's face because he placed a hand on the small of her back. "I'm sure he's alright," he whispered in her ear, kissing her temple.

She smiled up at him, but he could still see the worry in her eyes. She followed him out of the ship and started calling out commands. "Okay, everyone back to work. Guards, back to your posts." She watched as Derek and Connor climbed up the wall to take their post at the gate. She started to head off to where Lincoln was showing a few people how to make hunting weapons, but a startled Derek suddenly started shouting.

"Movement outside the gate!"

Octavia whirled around. _Bellamy_. She sprinted towards the gate and she saw Monroe stumble in with Luke and a small girl, Charlotte, right after her. They were all out on the gathering mission but they all looked as if they'd just seen a ghost.

"What happened? Where's Bellamy?" Octavia asked Monroe, panicked.

"It's Ryan! He fell and the fog got him!" Tears were streaming down her face.

"Lincoln!" He came trotting up behind her almost as soon as she said his name. "Lincoln, someone got caught in the fog. What will happen to them?"

His eyes widened and he looked down. "Their flesh will slowly burn. Inhaling it will kill you quicker, but more painfully."

Octavia was speechless. She turned back to Monroe. "Where is he?"

Monroe pointed and started towards the woods once again without saying a word. Octavia, Lincoln, and Luke followed her. They didn't take two steps out of the gate when Bellamy and Clarke jogged up to them.

"Octavia! Where are you going?" Bellamy said and then noticed all of their expressions. "What happened?"

"Ryan fell… in the fog," Octavia said.

"Oh, no," Clarke said, covering her mouth with her hand.

"He's dead, Octavia," Lincoln suddenly said.

"No!" She whipped around. "We might be able to help him!"

"We can't do anything."

"Yes we can," Bellamy spoke up. He took off and motioned for Monroe to lead the way.

They didn't get far when they started to hear the moans of pain echoing through the trees. Octavia scanned the ground and suddenly saw him- Ryan. She sprinted over to him, the others at her heels. She knelt next to him and grabbed his hand while Monroe took the other.

"Ryan," Monroe sobbed. "Ryan, can you hear me?"

Ryan's eyes widened at the sound of her voice, but he was unable to speak. The fog had burnt his throat, and probably his lungs, to a crisp. There were boils on his skin, still sizzling from the acid. His face was disfigured to the point where they barely even recognized him. He let out a crackled wheeze and another moan.

Bellamy suddenly pulled Octavia away and took her place by his side. He looked into Ryan's bloody eyes, confusing Octavia, but Clarke realized what he was going to do before he even did it.

"I'm sorry, Ryan," he said, quietly. He drew his knife and touched it to Ryan's throat. Bellamy felt tears prick his eyelids when he saw Ryan's eyes fill with what looked like relief. In a swift motion, he dug the blade deeper into Ryan's flesh and sliced it. Octavia watched in shock as Ryan quietly stop his struggled breathing as he slowly eased into death's arms.

"NO!" Monroe suddenly yelled and then lunged at him. "No! Why did you do that? You monster!"

Lincoln caught her as she went for Bellamy. "He did what was necessary. We need to get back. My people have probably heard us by now."

Bellamy silently stood up and turned. Clarke's face looked sad, but she gave him a reassuring nod that reminded him that what he did was the right thing to do. A single tear slipped onto his cheek, but Octavia saw it before he could quickly wipe it away. He started toward camp, implying that the group should follow him. Octavia fell in behind Clarke and heard him whisper something in the blonde's ear.

"We are not our demons, right?"

She wondered what he meant.

…

Bellamy glanced down at the dried blood on his hands. He was on the floor of the drop ship with his back against the wall. The rest of the scouts and Clarke's gatherers had returned, luckily all safe and sound. He made sure of it before he ventured into the ship, alone. There wasn't a moment where he had let out a glimpse of weakness since the 100 had landed on Earth. But suddenly, the dam was breaking. For the first time since his mother died, he felt broken. He was weak and afraid.

He started to cry. His eyes filled with tears faster than he could blink. He saw his hand holding a gun to Murphy's head. He saw his hand drag a blade across Ryan's throat, Clarke jump in front of him to stop the arrow, Atom fall into the fire, a 15-year-old Octavia be dragged away by guardsmen, All of it was a flash. He was a killer. He hurt so many people. And he hated himself for it. He wanted to save everyone, but he just killed someone- one of his own people. He had failed.

He brought his hands to his face as he let out a sob, but he remembered that they were bloody. His tears suddenly stopped and he rushed to the wash bucket near the medical table. He plunged his hands in up to his elbows. He started scrubbing them furiously under the water. He was frantic.

He hadn't noticed Clarke come up behind him. He froze as she placed her hand on his shoulder, and he didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. He started to sob again, this time harder. She fell to her knees and drew his head into her chest, pressing his ear to her heart. There was still a throbbing pain in her sternum, but she ignored it. They both cried as she rocked him.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

"No, Bellamy, don't do that."

"No, you don't get it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. For when Murphy shot at me, but hit you instead, for letting Ryan and Atom both die, just for everything."

She held him back for a second and he looked up at her. Her eyes were wet but surprisingly, stone cold as well. "No. I don't accept your apology. Everything that has happened down here has happened for a reason. But it's all in the past."

He just looked into the ocean of her eyes and felt himself calming down. He slowly nodded and swallowed.

"We move on now. Our people need us."

He stood up and Clarke followed him. He wiped his face and went outside. "Lincoln."

"Bellamy."

"I need to know. Is that your people who did that?"

He shook his head. "The Mountain Men."

"The med in suits?" Clarke said.

"You've seen them?" Lincoln asked.

"Once."

"They are very dangerous."

"No, shit."

Lincoln rolled his eyes.

"Bell, are you okay?" Octavia asked, noticing his puffy eyes.

"I'm fine. Where's Monroe?"

"Right here, sir." Bellamy suddenly felt something hard poking into his back. He saw Clarke turn and her eyes widen with anger. "Hold it right there, Princess, or he gets a bullet in the spine." Her eyes were filled with crazed tears.

"Monroe," Bellamy said as he slowly raised his hands. "What are you doing?"

"C'mon. Into the ship." She kicked him in the knee and turned him toward the ship, her weapon still in his back. She slammed the button on the panel near the door and it slowly closed, leaving just the pair of them in the room, alone.

 ***** Okay, for some reason I replaced Monroe's character with Harper. I changed it all to Monroe, but my apologies for any confusion. It's been a busy week.*****


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay, so for whatever reason, I totally fucked up last chapter and switched Monroe's character with Harper. I've changed everything though, so please reread that before you continue with the story. I'm super sorry for the confusion, as I was very angry with myself that I let that slide through editing. It's my first week of college and things are a little bit more hectic than I anticipated, so bear with me. Thank you so much for your patients! I hope everyone continues to read and enjoy this as much as I do :)**

20.

"On your knees," Monroe said with an uneasy voice. She was breathing heavily and her face was dripping with sweat and tears. A shaking hand was pointing Bellamy's own pistol at his head.

"Monroe, why are you doing this?" Bellamy asked as he slowly dropped to his knees, his hands still raised in surrender. His voice was calm but his mind was racing.

"You are a traitor," she said, gritting her teeth.

"Monroe-."

"You let Atom die. You banished Murphy. You _killed_ Ryan! How could you?"

"That was all out of my control. There was nothing I could do-."

"You could have forgiven Murphy! It wasn't his fault. They threatened him!"

"He killed Wells and tried to kill both me and Clarke. I couldn't let him get away with that."

"But you were going to kill him! And now, he's probably dead because of you. And what about Atom and Ryan? I could have helped them! But you stopped me. You're supposed to protect us! Is that what you call protection? _Killing_ your own? Letting them die?"

Bellamy said nothing. The look in her eyes was terrifyingly deranged, and he immediately knew that this would not end well. "You're right."

She looked confused. "Yes. You're a monster. You deserve to die."

"I know. So do it."

"What?"

"Kill me." He suddenly realized he wanted her to pull the trigger. He _wanted_ it; he _deserved_ it. _Do it._

"I will! Don't test me!"

"DO IT!" he boomed, his voice echoing off the metal walls of the small room. "Pull the trigger!"

"Bellamy! No!" he heard Octavia's muffled voice from behind the door.

"Octavia, I'm sorry." He gritted his teeth and grabbed Monroe's wrist, pulling the gun so that it was digging into his forehead. "Do it, Monroe. Kill me."

She let out a sob and more tears poured down her face. He stared up at her with cold eyes. "I'll do it," she said.

"I killed them. They're all dead because of me. Do it."

He saw her finger tighten around the trigger.

 _But then he saw Octavia's face and suddenly, she had bangs again. His mother was watching the two of them read a book of mythology from the other side of the room. Octavia had her smile. Then he saw a younger version of his mother holding a baby and singing a soft lullaby. She looked up at him and said, "Your sister, your responsibility."_

 _He then saw Clarke pointing an arrow at him from the other side of his gun. She was smirking, as if she thought the situation was amusing. He noticed a scar on her cheek that he'd never realized was there before. Then he saw her with the same arrow in her chest and fear in her eyes as she jumped in front of him, determined to sacrifice herself to save him. He saw her laugh, he saw her scream out in pain, he saw her smile, he saw her cry… He saw her eyes. "Everything that has happened down here has happened for a reason. But it's all in the past." He finally realized something- she believed in him._

And suddenly, he wanted to live.

Monroe's finger tensed, but Bellamy was too quick. He swatted her hand away just before the shot fired. He thought he heard a scream from the other side of the door, but he ignored it and lunged at her. She yelped as he ceased her wrists and tackled her to the ground. She planted her heel into his back causing him to grunt. She struggled under his grip and he was surprised by her strength. She kicked him again, and was able to roll over on top of him. He released her wrists and placed them on her throat. He forced himself on top of her once more and started to tighten his fingers.

The door opened.

Someone tried pulling him off of her, but he wouldn't release his grip. Monroe's face was turning a pale blue and her eyes began to bulge out of her head, and as soon as Bellamy knew her heart was about to stop beating, he let go. _No more death_. Lincoln dragged him off of the gasping girl and put him up against the wall. Clarke rushed to Monroe's side to make sure her windpipe wasn't damaged too greatly. Bellamy was panting and adrenaline was still coursing through his veins. He ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. He shrugged Lincoln off and walked back over to Monroe. She scrambled away from him, terrified.

"What I did to Atom, Ryan, and Murphy was all necessary," he said with a low voice that almost sounded like Clarke's. "By not saving Atom's life, I saved yours. By killing Ryan, I saved him from a painful death. By banishing Murphy, I saved my own life, Clarke's and probably many others. I am no traitor. You are. And I will not put my people in danger by allowing you to stay in this camp. Get out of my sight."

She was too afraid to cry. Still struggling for breath, she scrambled to her feet.

"Bellamy…" Clarke looked at him with pleading eyes.

"No one who betrays me, you, my sister, or any one of my people can live here. Leave, Monroe."

Clarke looked down at her feet. She knew he was right. Justice would have to be served and Monroe had been a lost cause since Murphy was banished. Bellamy never knew for sure if they were involved romantically, but what Monroe said after Wells died had stuck in his head. _"He wanted to protect me."_ _Why? From what?_

When the gates closed behind Monroe, Bellamy felt a sense of urgency rush through him. Somehow, he felt as if something else was coming. Something bigger. And when he saw the streak of fire in the sky, he knew it for sure.

…

The first Exodus ship had burnt up in the atmosphere, but the second had landed a long distance from the 100's camp. As much as his people wanted to go see if their parents were on it, Bellamy knew there was no safe way to get to them without the Grounders attacking. Besides, he had an inevitable war to prepare his people for. There would be no more insubordination, no more unnecessary drama and issues amongst them; they couldn't afford to lose sight of the big picture. The war was their priority- no more bullshit distractions.

He brought his dinner of fish with him to his tent. He didn't want Octavia lecturing him on not eating. He set up the small table next to his bed and took out a thick sheet of fabric they had found in the supply depot that was too stiff for a blanket and not waterproof enough for a tent. He needed to make a stared at the sheet for a while and then reluctantly, he went to go get Clarke. She knew far more about this area than he did. Plus, she was an artist. He smiled at the memory of her bunker in the middle of the woods, but then quickly snapped himself out of it when he caught sight of her sitting around the campfire next to Lincoln, Octavia, Finn and Raven. Despite the events of that day, she was laughing which was rare these days, even with her twisted sense of sarcasm.

"Clarke, Lincoln. Can I have a word?" He figured Lincoln should tag along, too, being as he was a Grounder. They both stood, their faces turning as solemn as Bellamy's.

"Well, in that case, I'm coming too," Octavia piped up.

"So am I," Raven said and Finn stood just as she did, implying that he was coming, too.

"Sure, whatever." He turned and started back towards his makeshift hut while the others followed. Clarke noticed that he walked differently, a sort of confident march, as if he was ready to take on the world. _If anyone can, you can, Bellamy Blake._ "I need you to draw me a map of the area. Everything within a three-mile radius should be a good start."

Lincoln began pointing and tracing lines on the fabric with his finger. Clarke followed his motions with a piece of charcoal, sketching a rough outline of their surroundings. Hills there, the river over there, dense trees on the other side- it was remarkable. She even made a realistic map of Planet Hell a work of art.

"Okay, that's everything," she finally told Bellamy.

He walked straight over to the map and silently examined it. It was beautiful, but that was beside the point. He had to get a plan. _Focus._ "I want booby-traps all around the outer perimeter of the wall with a collection of them in front of the gate. Raven, can you take care of that?"

"Totally," she said, her face smug.

"Good. Octavia, I wan you, Finn, and Lincoln to coordinate a ground crew to guard the perimeter. Like, foxholes and shit. We have limited guns and ammo so we need to make them all count. As for you, Clarke, you will be in the drop ship taking care of the wounded as they come in."

Her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Princess."

"There is no way-."

"I'm not arguing about this. You will be taking care of the wounded and that is final." Steam was practically billowing out of her ears at this point. "Raven, we blow the bridge tomorrow. I hope you have the bomb ready."

"It's been ready, boss. Just a few more tweaks and we'll be good to go."

"Good. Okay then, get to it guys. We don't have time to waste."

Raven, Finn, Octavia, and Lincoln all filed out of the tent, but Clarke stayed behind, obviously still furious.

"Bellamy, what the fuck?"

"What?" he said, a little too loud as he whirled around. "Clarke, I am not going to change my mind."

"Okay, when exactly did I start taking orders from you? I must have missed that part."

"I am doing what is best for my people."

"So, you're saying that stashing one of your best fighters behind the lines is what is best for our people?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"That doesn't make any-."

"I can't lose you, Clarke." His expression suddenly turned very dark. He glanced down at his feet and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "If something happened to me, I need you to take over. You're the only one who can do it if I'm gone. Besides, you know more about medical stuff than anyone in this camp."

She looked taken aback. _Oh, nothing to say, Princess?_ "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Why can't you just do what I say?"

"I'm privileged, remember? I don't take orders from janitors."

Bellamy smirked and looked down. _If only everything was still as simple as that._


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you to everyone reading! Leave a review if you'd like :)**

21.

No one slept the night before the bridge. The Grounders were marching on camp at dawn, so they needed to plant the bomb just before the warriors got to the river so that they could take out as many as they could. Bellamy and Clarke, both in different tents, lay awake all night, pondering what this war meant for their people. They both knew that a lot of their own people were going to die; there was only so much time they could hold the Grounders off after they had recovered from the bridge. They would eventually come at full force, destroying everything in their path.

Bellamy knew they didn't stand a chance locked in this camp. They needed something else, something that they wouldn't see coming- a tactical advantage. _But what?_ What could possibly be something that they could use to their advantage against these people? They were on a foreign planet with an enemy that knew the terrain better than the back of their hands. With Lincoln's help, they now knew where the Grounder's camp was, but what good was that information when they barely had enough weapons to just defend themselves?

Clarke thought about relocating camp, but she knew that having everyone out in the open would surely lead to a massacre. There was no hope for them outside the walls. A part of her wished that she could reason with them and make them understand that they meant no harm. But from personal experience, she knew that was impossible. There was no way the Grounders would listen to her or any one of the "Sky People", as Lincoln would say. They were aliens to the Grounders who had invaded their territory and she knew that they would do anything to defend it.

She heard someone open the flap to the tent. "It's time," Bellamy's voice whispered. It was too dark to see his face, but she knew his eyebrows were furrowed in that way his face was when he was nervous. She heard it in his voice. She turned on the electric lantern and saw that Octavia was stirring as well. They put on their boots, grabbed their packs, and followed Bellamy out of the tent. They met Lincoln, Raven, Jasper, and Finn at the gate. They were all pale with nerves and a lack of sleep, but they looked ready to take on their enemy with everything they had.

"Stay here," Bellamy said, turning to Octavia.

"Bell-."

"No, Octavia. Stay here. You're in charge if this goes bad."

She smiled weakly. "I wasn't going to argue with you, big brother."

"Good." He pulled her in for a hug half expecting to cry, but tears never came. She held him close for a while and kissed his cheek.

"May we meet again," she said when she pulled away.

"May we meet again." Silently, he turned and started to follow Lincoln to the bridge. He didn't look back.

…

The forest was dense up until the river's edge, so they were nicely camouflaged amongst the trees. They sat quietly for a while, each assessing the situation and they all came to the same conclusion: this would make or break them. The war drums started in the distance, making the hair on the back of Clarke's neck stand on end.

"We should probably plant it before they get here," Jasper said, his hands shaking.

Clarke gulped and silently held out her hands to receive the bomb. Raven, who had insisted on carrying the bomb herself, started to hand the aluminum-can of an explosive to Clarke, but Bellamy suddenly intercepted it and took off toward the bridge. "Bellamy!" she hissed. _Shit._

He zoomed over obstacles, keeping his grip on the bomb gentle as if he were carrying raw eggs. He reached the center of the bridge and the drums sounded closer. He could hear their chants echoing through the forest, sending chills up his spine. Clarke watched him carefully place the can in the center of the bridge and take a few steps back. But suddenly, something flew out from the opposite bank and hit Bellamy in the shoulder. Clarke gasped as he stumbled backwards from the impact. He quickly yanked it out of his flesh and buckled over in pain. War cries filled Clarke's ears and she was suddenly in a panic. _They're coming._ The first few Grounder warriors flooded onto the bridge. They were only yards from reaching the center; from reaching Bellamy.

"Blow it! Take the shot!" Bellamy called in their direction. He turned to run, but he tripped over a loose rock. Clarke saw his body curl with pain from the fall. _Get up you fucking_ _dunce! What are you doing?_ She had never been so fucking frustrated with him.

Jasper raised his gun and aimed at the can. _Oh, God._

"No!" Finn said, placing his hand on the weapon. "He's too close. The blast will kill him."

"BLOW IT!" Bellamy billowed, scrambling away from the bomb as quick as he could. Clarke snatched Jasper's gun from him and quickly lined up the crosshairs with the small "X" on the can. The Grounders were getting closer. _Get out of there, Bellamy._

She fired.

The bomb erupted into a huge explosion, forming a mushroom cloud over the river. It blew the hair off of Clarke's forehead and the heat wave made her duck behind a tree. When she looked back again, most of the Grounders were retreating. The few who advanced were obviously disobeying the order to fall back. They hollering in a language she didn't understand and they were plunging into the river, furiously swimming to the other side. She scanned the scene, looking for a head of dark curly hair to pop up from somewhere. She had to save him.

Jasper, Finn, and Raven all looked at Clarke with eyes of pure shock. _What have I done?_

"We have to go," Lincoln said.

"Bellamy…" Clarke breathed. _What have I_ done _?_

"Bellamy is dead. We have to go. Now." He grabbed Clarke's arm and they ran.


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay, so this was one of my favorite chapters to write for obvious reasons. I hope you enjoy it- be sure to leave a review! (If you want.) ((It's up to you.)) (((You totally don't have to.))) ((((Thanks.))))**

22.

"Where's Bellamy?"

Octavia had met Lincoln, Clarke, Raven, Finn, and Jasper at the gate when they finally got back to camp. They had managed to shoot and kill the grounders that were tailing them, but that didn't stop them from continuing to haul ass the rest of the way, anyways.

"Where is Bellamy?" Octavia repeated. Lincoln finally released his grip on Clarke's arm and silently embraced Octavia. Their faces told her all that she needed to know. She pushed Lincoln off. "No... Lincoln, where is he?"

"Octavia…" Lincoln's face was stone.

Clarke was about to break down. She hurried away from them to hide her face, but there was no suppressing her sobs. She ran into the drop ship and collapsed to her knees, pressing her forehead pressed against the wall. Her entire body was shaking. She screamed. Her fingernails dug into her palms and she started banging on the wall with her knuckles, bloodying them with every punch. She couldn't inhale. Her heart was stopping. She was dying. Her arms gave out and they wouldn't punch anymore. She couldn't feel anything- not even her own violent sobs ripping through her body. She was numb.

 _I killed him._ It was true. She fired the gun, she set off the bomb- it was _her_ fault. What would Octavia say? How would she be able to face her people again? She tried to stand, but her legs refused to listen. She sat and pushed her back against the wall, cradling her face as silent tears streaked the blood on her knuckles.

"Clarke," someone said with a frantic voice as they tugged on her arm. She hadn't noticed anyone enter the ship. She looked up and saw Finn's face. His eyes were full of relief but his voice shook as he spoke. "Clarke, get up right now. It's Bellamy."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"He's here. He's alive."

Clarke scrambled to her feet and sprinted outside. Everything went still. The only thing she saw was the limp body slung between two people, who she didn't care to recognize. She started shouting orders.

"Get out of the way! Take him inside the ship! MOVE!"

She assisted the two carrying him and led them straight into the tall metal structure. Her heart was racing, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She burst back through the fabric curtain of the drop ship doorway and cleared the aluminum medical table in the center of the room, shoving everything to the ground in one swift motion.

"Lay him down." Clarke demanded and as she quickly began to him. His entire right upper arm and chest was covered in wet, sticky blood and she the image of him stumble backward after the arrow impacted into him. She tore it down the middle from the neck and moved her hands over his chest to find a wound and her fingers found the hole in his flesh right under the hardness of his collarbone. It was deep.

"Bellamy!" She heard a shriek from the doorway. Octavia was trying her best to push passed Lincoln. "BELLAMY!"

"Octavia, it's okay," she called out to her. "I'll take care of him."

Octavia somehow burst through her roadblock and rushed to Bellamy's side. Her flushed white face was streaked with tears. She was practically hyperventilating.

"Oh my, God. Why is he not moving? Is he breathing? Bellamy!"

"Lincoln, get her out of here," Clarke commanded. She regretted making Octavia stay away, but she needed to focus. This whole situation might have been her fault, but this was her chance to save him. She dipped a cloth into the rain water bucket with next to the table and cleaned the blood off his skin so she could see the wound.

"No, I'm staying here with him." Octavia snapped, pushing Lincoln away.

"Octavia, look at me," Clarke said. "I need to work on him. If you're going to stay here, you have to give me space."

Lincoln came returned and grabbed Octavia's wrist and pulled her a few feet away from the table.

"Is he going to be okay?" Finn whispered.

"He's lost a lot of blood but thank God an artery wasn't hit. Get me the stitching kit and the metal jar out of the bag." She moved her attention to Bellamy's face. His eyes were closed and his lips slightly parted. With a bloody hand, she moved his hair out of his eyes. _You're going to be okay. I got you._ His eyelids twitched.

Finn handed Clarke the small case and metal jar. She searched for the source of the bleeding and took the jar and smeared it all inside the wound. Her mind suddenly flashed back to their supplies expedition and it seemed like was a decade ago.

 _"This is a kind of root that will probably end up saving your life." Damn. The irony._

She started sewing Bellamy's flesh together. _You're going to be okay._

"Clarke, what's happening?" Finn said, panicked. She looked up and saw white foam forming on Bellamy's lips. His body tensed up and began to convulse.

"No, no, no, no. Finn hold him down!"

"What's happening to him?" Octavia screamed. Lincoln embraced her, shielding her from her brother's body.

"Bellamy, stay with me," Clarke said. "If you can hear me, please stay with me." _The arrow. How could I forget the arrow?!_

Clarke was fumbling through the med-kit with shaking hands. She found the antidote in the small, brown bottle Lincoln had given her. _This better work._ She grabbed a syringe and needle and began to fill it with the caramel colored liquid. With a shaking hand, she pinned Bellamy's arm down and injected the antidote into his blood stream. Lincoln told her that it was supposed to be taken orally, but that would take to long for the effects to set in. Bellamy had apparently gotten a larger dose, or he was having some sort of reaction to the poison. Either way, it was now or never. There were a few drops left, so she emptied them onto his tongue. He convulsed a few more times until he went still. Clarke put her ear to his chest.

Nothing.

She began to panic. "Bellamy..." Her eyes searched his face for a response, but all she got was dead silence. She started doing compressions on his chest. "No!" _I killed him. No. Please, no._ Her eyes pricked with more tears and she put her lips to his, providing a few rescue breaths. CPR was never usually effective, according to her mother, but she didn't have any other choice. She was running on the only tiny glimpse of hope she had left.

Finn ran lace his fingers behind his neck in exasperation and his face looked as if he was about to be sick. Lincoln was still restraining a sobbing Octavia, but even he was sneaking a few glances behind him to watch Clarke frantically try to save Bellamy's life.

Clarke never looked up. She only saw Bellamy's lifeless body under her hands. She saw his brown eyes behind the barrel of his beloved pistol as he pointed it at her. She heard him mock her with that stupid and unoriginal nickname. She saw his smile, he heard his laugh, and felt his touch, and in one moment, it was all gone. Gone because of her. _I killed him…_ She began to sob, her tears blurring all her wonderful memories of him. She let out a scream as she stopped her compressions. He was gone.

She put her face on his bare chest and cried. Her wails echoed through the room. She was suddenly angry. With gritted teeth, she made a fist and pounded on his chest, furiously. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. She joined her hands together and pounded again.

His body suddenly moved under. A sputtering came from his lips, turning into a breathless cough. His eyes shot open as he struggle to breath again. Clarke's eyes widened and everything went silent. _Bellamy._

She leaned over him, gazing in to his eyes. Her hands cupped his face as he gasped for air. His eyes, wide with fear, looked up into Clarke's and he was convinced that an angel had saved him.

Octavia burst from Lincoln's hold and returned to her brother's side. She grabbed his hand and bent over his chest. Clarke watched them as he brought a hand to his sister's face. She closed her eyes and brought her still trembling fingers to her forehead and regained her breath. _You're okay… You're okay._


	23. Chapter 23

**I am sooooo sorry for the long wait! College is turning out to be extremely stressful (surprise, bitch). But thank you all for being so patient. After all, this is a fun thing for me to do in my spare time. Enjoy :) I will try to keep up with this fic better, I promise.**

23.

 _"A.G."_

There was just enough room on the sharp piece of metal for the two letters right under the others, _"J.G."_

Clarke had been meaning to make the addition to her blade; she'd just never gotten around to it. Considering what had happened to Bellamy not five hours earlier, she decided to take a moment to be a little nostalgic. She usually couldn't afford to let her mind wander away from reality, but she needed to this time.

Her father, Jake Griffin, was her hero. She had always looked up to him. He always did the right thing, even when everyone would just turn the other way and ignore the morality behind Jake his motives. That _is_ what got him killed, after all.

She didn't like to think about him all that much; the only thing he thought of was his body being sucked out of the airlock into the vastness of space right in front of her eyes. All the good moments of her childhood, watching 90+ year-old soccer games with the Jaha's every Friday night, the extraordinarily fictional bedtime stories, random engineering factoids, and those boring but devoted father-daughter talks had all ended that day. Everything good in life was just suddenly replaced with death. And how definitive death was.

Abby Griffin was that of another story. Clarke had always clashed heads with her mother over the simplest things. Some of it was about politics, but it was usually about laundry or curfew parameters. They were never close in the way of a typical mother-daughter relationship, but oh, how Clarke wished they could have one more heated discussion about kitchen organization methods.

She had no problems when it came to challenging others, especially those who she cared about. A small smile crept across her lips when she suddenly caught herself thinking of Bellamy. They bicker about nothing and everything and it was comforting for her. And she knew he felt the same way. The way that they've grown together as leaders so quickly was incredible; if she had met him on Earth as a newbie, before nature and survival had a chance to harden her, they would not have become as unified as soon as they did. She thought that she would have taken a much more passive way of running things, where he would have been immediately head strong.

He was comforting- and she'd almost lost him today. The thought made her eyes prick with tears. _How stupid._ She didn't care about him, did she? No. They were leaders together. They couldn't care about each other _like that._

But she did.

She wanted to go to his tent right now under the excuse of changing his bandages, but really, she just wanted to see him, to touch him. To help him.

She decided to get up early to watch the sunrise. As she pulled open the flap of the door, she practically ran someone over.

"Bellamy!" she whispered.

"I was hoping you were still sleeping," he said. His right arm was bound with a sling to his chest like she'd left him earlier. His eyes looked hazy from the drugs, but they were also something else… happy.

"You should be in bed."

"Clarke I-."

"No," she cut him off and put a finger to his lips. "Shh. Come with me."

She led him in the direction of his tent, but then took a turn towards the gate.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Shh," she said again. "I don't want anyone to wake up."

She cracked the gate and slipped through the opening, holding it open for Bellamy. She smirked when she saw the confused look on his face and was tempted to take his hand. She led him into the trees and around a few twists and turns until she came to a familiar trunk. She jumped up and grabbed the low tree limb and hoisted herself onto the thick branch.

"You expect me to climb a tree in this condition?" he said smiling as he looked up at Clarke.

"Since when has a little scratch stopped Bellamy Blake from doing anything?" she grinned down at him.

"So a poison arrow wound is just a 'little scratch' to you?" He grabbed the branch with his one free hand and swung himself up next to Clarke with his good arm. His upper body strength had improved a lot since he landed on Earth and it still never failed to take Clarke by surprise. She ignored the pounding in her chest due to her inherent fear of heights and jumped up to grab the next limb and continued climbing. Bellamy wasn't far behind.

When they reached the top, the sky was still starry as could be. They could see the moonlit landscape for miles, as well as the thousands and thousands of galaxies and stars that peppered the dark indigo sky.

"Wow," Bellamy breathed. Clarke glanced over at him. His eyes were wide and lips slightly parted with awe as he took in the view.

"It gets better," she said quietly, as if she was going to disturb the sight.

"Do you come up here often?"

"Only when I when I can't sleep. So yeah, I guess."

"Why can't you sleep?"

"Lot's of reasons."

"Oh," he didn't want to pry any further.

The pair of them sat in silence for a while until the sky turned to a light purple color. Bellamy was breathless. Clarke felt his energy surge at the sight of the lowly rising sun. When the light yellow orb broke over the horizon, they were both mesmerized.

"Why were you coming into my tent this morning?" Clarke suddenly blurted out.

Bellamy turned to her and hesitated. "I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"Saving my life."

She smirked. "Just doing my job."

"No, it's not your job to save lives. You stepped up to that. No one made you. Just like no one made you volunteer to come down here before everyone else. You are extraordinary, Clarke. The way you stare down any difficult situation without any fear. You saved us, you know. All of us. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Clarke glanced down at her hands and then back up into his dark eyes. "We balance each other out really well, I guess."

He laughed softly and returned her sapphire gaze. "Yeah we do."

 _We're like two halves._ She wanted to say so much more. She wanted to tell him that she felt lost without him by her side. That almost losing him the day before had almost destroyed her whole world. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. She wanted to kiss him right there and then as the sunlight began to pour out over the mountains and trees. But for some reason, she was frozen. A voice in her head told her to not admit any of those things out loud. Clarke Griffin, a girl who feared nothing, afraid of a boy? Impossible. She was only afraid of the truth.

She turned away, her cheeks burning. "That's not true what you said about me being unafraid. I am afraid, Bellamy. Everyday, every second. Things were easier when it was just me down here. And then the Grounders showed up. And then you guys. And things are so much more complicated when you have to look after your people. You are easy to follow. They listen to you because you're confident and you're strong. And when I almost lost you… I don't know how we would keep going if you were gone."

He smiled softly. His face was youthful and comforting which was something Clarke didn't think she'd ever seen in him before. "You would have figured something out." He made the words seem as if they were engraved into steel.

She felt something rough touch her hand and she looked down. Bellamy's fingers had slowly curled into hers. He turned to the sunrise once more, but her eyes lingered.

"You are extraordinary, Clarke."

And suddenly, she wasn't so afraid.


	24. Chapter 24

**Ahhhhh yay, another chapter! Again, sorry for the long waits. I've been studying a lot because finals are coming up, wahoo! But thank you for reading, I love you all. Review away :)**

24.

That day in camp, everyone was working on something. Every single pair of able hands was busy reinforcing the wall, crafting more arrows and weapons, and whatever else needed doing or fixing. Even Bellamy made use of his left hand and powerful voice. There was no way Clarke would be able to keep him in bed all day.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked him as they sat on the ground with their backs against the drop ship cleaning the last of the assault rifles.

"Do what?" he asked, half smirking.

"Why'd you take the bomb from me and plant it yourself?"

"Probably the same reason you took Murphy's arrow for me."

She glanced away uncomfortably and decided to ignore his statement. "You were all for it when I originally volunteered."

"Yeah well, I guess things changed."

 _Hmm, what changed, Bellamy?_ "How'd you get out of there alive?"

"I rolled off the side of the bridge at the last second," he clenched his jaw.

"You're a lucky son of a bitch."

He forced a small smile. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"I thought I lost you back there," she put the gun down and turned to him but he avoided eye contact.

"You did. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead."

"No, I mean at the bridge. I'm the one who took the shot. I thought I killed you."

"Oh, Clarke, don't even act like you haven't daydreamed about killing me."

"Bellamy, I'm serious!"

He finally shifted his eyes to hers, his smirk disappearing making him seem suddenly serious. "It had to be done."

"Yeah, but-."

"Clarke, you did what you had to do to carry out the plan and protect our people. I would have done the same if our places were switched. There was no way we could have avoided that situation without risking someone's life. We all knew what we signed up for. But it's time to move on and do whatever we have to do to fight back."

"You're right. But don't pull that shit again."

He smiled. "Of course, princess."

She felt her cheeks turn red as she smiled and looked away. "How did you get onto the drop ship?" she asked suddenly. "You're older than all of us, right?"

"Yeah, I'm twenty-three. I just snuck on, though. It wasn't that hard. They weren't really concerned with stowaways I guess. They knew they were sending all of them to die."

"You knew it was risky?"

"Yeah."

"Then why'd you come?"

"To protect Octavia." As he spoke, his voice had a slight hint of pride.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"She's my little sister, Clarke."

"I wish I had a sister." _Or any family, really._

"They're a pain in the ass, honestly."

Clarke laughed and pulled back the fabric of her shirt to reveal the scar from the river shark on her forearm. "Yeah I know."

Bellamy chuckled and visibly relaxed. He looked back down at the rifle he was holding to finish the job. "Why'd you volunteer to come down here alone last year?"

Clarke paused. She didn't know how to respond, but the words seemed to form themselves on her lips without hesitation. "It was around the time that my Dad died. I had just gotten locked up and they were talking about this plan to send all of them down. We knew that Earth needed a few more years to be fully stable, so it would have been a risky mission. I thought I'd see if it was safe enough before they sent 100 minors to their potential deaths. Jaha was all for the idea. Actually, the only council member not for it was my mother. For obvious reasons, I guess."

"They thought you were dead and they still sent us down here," Bellamy said, astonished.

"Fucking pricks."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Clarke picked the rifle up and began working on it once again.

"You know, I never really liked the Chancellor."

Bellamy chuckled. "Really? I thought you were close to his family."

She shook her head. "No. I was only ever close with Wells."

"What happened to his mom?"

"She died when we were young. She had to have an emergency surgery and there was some complications when my mom tried to operate on her. It was something neither Wells nor I understood at the time. Her never talked about her much."

"Maybe because his dad was a massive cock?"

"Yeah. Honestly, I don't think he was ever that good to Wells. He always ignored him and treated him as if he wasn't even his own son."

"That's fucked."

Clarke shrugged. "At least he had a dad."

"Not all of us were that lucky, I guess."

"Yeah, but at least we have this planet to start over. Make something good come out of all the shit."

"It's pretty shitty here too, Clarke."

"Yeah, but we have the power to change that." Suddenly she had an idea. "What if we were able to talk to the Grounders? Form a truce with them or something?"

Bellamy looked up at her. "Are you insane?"

"Think about it. We're both just trying to survive here. All we're trying to do is protect our own people. When my ship came they were threatened. While I was captured, they kept on asking me, 'When are your people coming?' 'Why are you here?' that kind of stuff. They're even more terrified now that the much bigger drop ship landed and that they lost a bunch of people in the explosion. We could talk to them. Reason with them."

"They're savages, Clarke," Bellamy said sternly. "They can't be reasoned with."

"Bellamy, they're doing what they have to do to survive. That's what they've always had to do for almost a hundred years."

"It's a bad idea."

"I know."

Bellamy looked at her. She was smirking. He wanted to roll his eyes. "Let's go talk to Lincoln."

…

"Lincoln, it's our only chance to get out of this with as few deaths as possible," Clarke pleaded. Octavia stood at his side across from Clarke. Bellamy and Raven/Finn stood opposite of each other, the whole group forming a '+' sign on the floor of the drop ship.

"No," Lincoln practically bellowed back at her. "The Commander is ruthless. She doesn't let anything get in her way when she thinks that her people are threatened. You should know that better than anyone."

 _The Commander…_ "Was she the one they called 'Heda'?"

Lincoln nodded. "She was the one who gave the order to torture you."

"Yeah well, I was the one who gave the order to torture you, Lincoln."

She saw Bellamy shift uncomfortably out of the corner of her eye.

"That's different. We were both misunderstanding each other's intentions."

"If stalking our camp for attack strategies and drawing pictures of Octavia is a 'misunderstanding' then you got me."

If Lincoln could blush, he did after that comment. "I wasn't watching you for attack strategies. See, you misunderstood."

"Lincoln, they hate us because they think of us as a threat. They hate us because they are afraid. They are attacking because the only other people they've encountered were hostile. We need to talk to them. We need to tell them that we are not the enemy."

"She won't listen to you, Clarke."

"The least we can do is try. I have to do something to help my people survive. If this is the only chance I have, then I'm taking it."

He hesitated and glanced up at her behind thick eyebrows. "You'll be alone. I can't help you. They think of me as a traitor. To them, there's nothing more shameful than that."

"She won't be alone," Bellamy said, staring straight at the ground in front of him.

"No one down here is ever alone," Finn said.

"Let's get 'em Clarke," Raven agreed.

Octavia nodded. "We can do this. We're all behind you."

Clarke nodded at Bellamy, almost taken aback by their unfaltering support. She turned back to Lincoln "Is their someone you trust that can get a message to her?"

He nodded. "There is one."

"Then do it. Tell them I would like to meet her at the river. I will be bringing a small, armed party with me so she is permitted to do the same."

"She knows who you are, Clarke."

"So? She looked me in the eyes as her people beat half to death. If you're able to talk with me now after that, I can do the same with her."


	25. Chapter 25

**More chapters are coming! Thanks for reading :)**

25.

Three days passed. _Today is the day…_

The sunrise was peaking over the mountains and through the clouds, making it dimmer than usual. An eerie atmosphere was floating through the forest that morning. Clarke, Bellamy, Finn, Raven, Jasper, Miller, Lincoln, and Octavia were standing in a circle inside the drop ship.

"Be as passive as you can, but show no weakness," Lincoln told Clarke as he handed her an assault rifle. "The moment she sees weakness, she will destroy you."

"I know," Clarke said. She remembered something and lowered her voice, "Lincoln… Were you there when I was captured?"

His eyes darted to hers and even without any words, she knew his answer. "Yes."

Clarke nodded at the confirmation of her suspicions. Her hair was braided on both sides and tied in the back so it wouldn't fall in her face. A few smaller braids hung down around her shoulders She didn't realize it, but she was starting to look more and more like a Grounder everyday.

"Okay, are we really to roll out?" Bellamy's tense voice broke Clarke's train of thought.

"Hell yeah," Raven said. The others nodded in agreement, their faces attempting to hide the nerves that were bubbling up inside them all.

"Okay. Lincoln, Octavia, keep our people safe. No matter what happens. The rest of you… let's go." He gave Octavia a small hug and Lincoln an assuring nod. He seemed fearless to the others, but Clarke noticed the slight shakiness of his voice. She matched his step as they exited through the gate, and when she brushed his shoulder, he felt a cool sense of confidence rush through him. _We can do this. Clarke can do this._

…

They could hear the sound of the river before they could see it. Apart from the sound of water running over rocks and the occasional snapping of a twig, there was a heavy silence that filled the air.

"We're here," Clarke whispered. "Hold up for a second. Let me go ahead." She quietly crept towards the forest's edge and the sight of the river came into view. She crouched behind a thick tree, scanning the opposite tree line. Although she saw nothing, she could feel multiple pairs of eyes staring back at her. She stood, suddenly and lowered her gun to her side. She took a few steps forward and she was in the open- exposed.

Bellamy, confused, started to move towards her and the rest began to follow, but they froze when Clarke shot a glare back at them. She walked almost all the way to the water's edge and she raised her empty arm for a few moments in a sign of surrender. A few seconds passed and she could feel her own heart pounding in her ears.

Suddenly, a head popped out from the tree line. The Grounder emerged slowly, with their bow drawn. Clarke gulped and her hand tightened around the cold metal of the gun.

"Are you Clarke of the Sky People?" she said.

"Yes," she called back loudly. "And I would like to speak with your Commander."

The Grounder said nothing, but more of them emerged. They crept out, one by one to the edge of the river, only about 15 feet from Clarke. She signaled back to Bellamy to join her, and he was almost instantly at her side along with the rest of their party. Raven eyed the Grounder across from her up and down. Finn and Jasper stood, their entire bodies rigid. Miller looked the most relaxed, but even he was finding it difficult to shut down his nerves.

"Where is your Commander?" She asked.

A woman with thick, light brown hair stepped forward. Her mouth was formed into permanent scowl and her eyes were almost hidden with war paint. She was slightly shorter than Clarke, but she made it known that she was in charge here. _We'll see about that._

"You're not the Commander," Clarke said calmly.

"I am Anya. The Commander wishes me to speak with you on her behalf."

"What authority do you have with your people, Anya?"

"I'm a unit leader in the _Trikru_ , the People of the Woods," her voice was suddenly defensive. "I was the Commander's mentor. What authority do you have, Clarke?"

"Well… my mom was a doctor, I guess. Listen, Anya. With all due respect, I requested to speak with the Commander herself. Not some Grounder Princess. I had hoped that you would be honorable enough to keep your word."

"I'm impressed," a familiar voice said from behind the line of Grounders, sending chills up Clarke's spine. She felt Bellamy tense up next to her. "I knew you would remember me."

Another figure emerged from the trees, her strides, long and confident. Her war paint was streaked down her surprisingly soft face. A circular embellishment was worn between her eyebrows, distinguishing her as the Commander. Bellamy was lost for a second and then he realized something. _It was a test. Why? Maybe to see if Clarke wouldn't be flexible and ask them to keep their word? Well played, Princess._

Clarke couldn't speak. As the Commander came closer, the tallest, bearded Grounder with a face tattoo stepped closer to her side. Just by the look of him, he was the most terrifying of them all.

"Clarke, is it? My name is Lexa, the Commander. I believe you wanted to discuss peace terms with me. What is your offer?"

"My people are not here to harm yours," Clarke said. "We came to back to Earth, unaware that it was inhabited. The rest of our people have already landed south of here. If we could get to them-."

"There were no survivors of that crash," Lexa cut her off, coldly.

"Crash?"

"The space ship. It crashed. I sent units to go investigate it, just as I did with your ships when they landed. But they found no one alive."

"Why should we believe you?" Bellamy asked. Looks of horror filled the rest of their faces.

Lexa nodded at the bearded-tattooed one and he pulled out a shard of metal. Clarke gazed at it in a trance. _That really_ is _from the Ark…_ She felt the blood drain from her face. _We really are alone now._ Clarke shut the thought out of her mind. "Then our agreement will be easier to enforce."

"I'm still waiting for an offer, Clarke." A tall, dark-skinned female grounder said something to Lexa in a language Clarke didn't understand. Lexa responded, her voice sounding inpatient.

"My offer is that we live in peace. Harmony between us could save lives and then maybe we can focus on the true enemy."

"You started a war that you don't know how to end," the Anya said.

"Sorry, I believe I was speaking to Lexa. Not you."

The dark one drew her weapon. "You will call her 'Commander', you filthy-."

"Indra! _Shof op_." Indra backed away, her blade still drawn. "Your people blew almost a hundred of my people up at the bridge. You expect me to believe you are here in peace?"

"You were sending them to march on us," Bellamy spoke up suddenly. "We were defending our own."

"You are invaders. This is our land."

"Like Clarke said, we didn't know Earth was inhabited. We thought we were the only ones."

"Commander," Clarke said, hesitantly. "All I want is to keep my people alive. And I think you want the same for yours. So please, can we put the past behind us and live together as human beings? If that's all we have in common then so be it. We don't even have to interact at all with each other as allies, at least for now. But please, can we stop the violence?"

Lexa stared into Clarke's eyes for a moment. Clarke couldn't read her expression, but by the way she wasn't saying anything, Clarke knew that she was considering it.

"What about the bridge?" she finally said.

"What _about_ the bridge?" Raven said.

"We need justice. Lexa pointed at Bellamy. "He is the one who was at the bridge with the bomb. We need him."

Bellamy's jaw tensed and his fists tightened around the rifle.

"No." Clarke said suddenly. "No, I set it off. Take me."

"Clarke, what are you doing?" Finn hissed at her.

"What? It's the truth. I took the shot. _I_ did. Bellamy just planted it."

"Clarke, stop," Bellamy said.

"Bellamy… they'll kill you," she whispered.

"I know-."

"Then both of you," Lexa said. "Come with us, and your peacetime will commence."

"No, Clarke needs to stay behind to protect our people," Bellamy said. He turned his eyes to Clarke and gave her an encouraging look.

"Bellamy…" Jasper said.

"Don't do this," Miller stepped towards him.

"Enough!" Lexa shouted. "All of you, quiet. I will have both Clarke and Bellamy come with us. That is final."

"You bitch," Raven said.

"Justice is justice."

Bellamy suddenly pulled Clarke in for a hug, taking her by surprised. He buried his face in her hair, holding her tightly and passionately, as if he was saying… _Oh no, Bellamy._

"Run," he whispered.

"No. Bellamy, I can't leave you." She started to tremble, a sudden adrenaline rush filling her veins. "Don't make me do this."

"They need you. Take care of Octavia. Go. Now," he shoved her away from him and she took off without hesitation, the others following. The Grounders drew their arrows, but Lexa shouted something that stopped them. Bellamy had dropped his weapon and began to swim across the river. He needed Clarke to do this, to go protect his people- his sister. He knew he was going to die. But this had to be done.

Clarke could hear nothing as she and the others crashed through the woods except Bellamy's soft voice in her ear: _"Go. Now."_


	26. Chapter 26

**Updaaaaaate! I'm sorry for the twist last chapter (not really). This chapter is kinda small, but 27 is being written as we speak. Thank you for your reviews and feedback, they make me smile like a kid with a lollipop. (Idk what kind of metaphor that is but oh well) Enjoy!**

26.

"We'll get him back, Octavia," Lincoln said.

The two of them were in Bellamy's tent, the only place where they could get some space from the rest of the 100. Octavia was curled up on the bed, hugging her knees like she used to when she had to hide when there were room inspections on the Ark.

"You bet your ass we will," she said. "How much time do we have?"

"Until dark tomorrow."

She stared down at her knees that were pulled to her chest. Lincoln wrapped his large arm around her and she leaned into him.

"You heard what Clarke said. He did this to protect us. To protect you."

"Well, it's my turn to be the hero now."

"You already are one. To me."

She nuzzled her face closer to his chest. "So are you. I need you, Lincoln."

She couldn't see his face, but she felt him smile. "Want to go talk to Clarke about a plan?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

…

Back inside the drop ship, Clarke, Raven, Finn, Jasper, Monty, Miller, Octavia and Lincoln stood circled around the medical table.

"So, before anything gets started," Clarke began, "we need to establish a few things. We have until nightfall tomorrow to get Bellamy back. That being the case, I want zero fucking around. We're going to focus on Bellamy and only Bellamy, understood?"

All of them nodded, their faces hard and determined.

"So, lets figure this shit out. What do we do next?" Raven asked.

"Will they be expecting us, Lincoln?" Clarke asked.

"Most likely not. They underestimate us. They think they're stronger."

"They kind of are…" Monty said. Jasper jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow. "Ow. Sorry."

"No, Monty's right," Clarke said. "They outnumber us a hundred to one. We just need to find the right time to get in and get out as quietly as we can."

"Is that even possible?" Finn asked.

"I don't know. It's definitely risky," Lincoln said.

"No, shit," Raven said. "It'll have to be a small group to extract him. Only three or four people at most. A few more to keep watch. I'll do that part."

"I will, too," Miller said. "Bellamy is like a brother to me."

"Well, he _is_ my brother, so I'm going."

"Octavia…"Lincoln started.

"No. I'm going." Her voice was harsh and stern. Everyone knew there was no arguing her out of this one.

"Lincoln and I will have to go, too," Clarke said. "Finn, Jasper and Monty, stay here. We need a few gunmen at home."

"Clarke, maybe you should stay here," Finn said.

Clarke turned toward him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What if something happens to both you and Bellamy? Who will we have to lead us?"

"You, dumbass! Why do you think I want you here?"

"But I can't-."

"Finn, I need you to step up. Bellamy is out there, captured by Grounders and I'm going to do everything I can to get him back."

Finn nodded understandingly but he was still unsure. "Okay. I trust you."

Clarke let out a small grin. Her eyes started to burn. She cleared her throat. "So, Lincoln, when is the best time to go?"

"They have patrols out at night, so during the day. That means we should leave around dawn tomorrow."

"Alright then. Everyone, get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." With that, she turned her head and walked out just as her eyes filled with tears. _We're coming, Bellamy._

 _We're coming._


	27. Chapter 27

**Ahhhh, your feedback has been incredible! Thank you guys for taking the time to read this. There is so much more to come :) Enjoy and review away!**

27.

 _This must have been the cage Clarke was talking about._ Bellamy was curled in the corner of a small wooden cage that was more suited for something the size of a large dog. His wrists were bound with leather strips, which rubbed his flesh raw every time he shifted them. The anxiety was eating at him. He knew was going to die. _I am going to die. I am going to die. I am going to die._

He squeezed his eyes closed when he felt the tears coming. He tried to shut out the thoughts, but he couldn't. All he could see was toddler-Octavia's face smiling and laughing at the jokes he was telling her. She asked him to read more stories about the Roman Emperors and their gods. She asked him to braid her hair and when he told her about beautiful princesses who got their hair done by servants, she told him that she didn't care about that kind of life- she didn't want that. She asked about warriors and gladiators and the goddess Bellona who carried a torch with a scarlet flame as she led her troops into battle. Octavia was never supposed to be a Princess. She was a warrior. _His_ warrior.

And Clarke. _Clarke._ He loved her. He realized that now. He knew did this to save the only two people he'd ever loved. The others were important too, but he just couldn't find a way to replace the image of her face in his mind. She was the first person since his mother and Octavia to believe in him; the only one he could trust.

The tears were coming in streams now, his face swelling with redness. He choked back sobs and brought his hands to his face. The leather ties dug into his skin, but he didn't feel it. The pain of losing everything was far greater.

 _Mom, help me. God, someone, please help me. Tell me what to do._

Aurora was never one to make jokes. In hindsight, Bellamy understood it was because she was constantly afraid for her daughter's life. Despite her seriousness, her fear never got the best of her. Bellamy was good with Octavia. He was good with everyone, really. Aurora would do anything for them. And she did.

She died for them. She died for the only people she cared about in the world. She died protecting her little girl. One little mistake changed everything. He should have never taken her to that dance. He should have known better. He should have-

He should have fought back. Instead, he became some shitty janitor that cleaned up the piss in the bathroom. He did nothing. He let his mother die and his sister rot in a cell. But what could he have done? At least Clarke did something. She was willing to sacrifice herself to defend her father when he was up to float. She never stood back and just _watched_. He admired her for that.

He didn't want to die, helpless. He wanted to do something- anything that would help the 100. But he knew this was the only way. Clarke would do so much more than he could ever even think of. She was fearless. But here he was, trapped, alone, and oh, so afraid. But at least she would alive. Her and Octavia.

The sky had begun to turn a pink color, signifying the beginning of the sunset. He knew what awaited him once dusk fell over this hellish camp. The Grounders had already started to chant around the fire. They were getting the justice they thought they deserved. Bellamy was just trying to think of a way to accept that as his own justification. He noticed that the guard standing outside his cage was gone, to join the others in their preparations. Maybe the others would somehow come to his rescue in the short amount of time he had left. _Wishful thinking._ He smiled to himself. _If you were going to try anything, Clarke now's the-_

The loud thump of the arrow impacting the ground next to his cage made him jump. He looked at it for a few moments in confusion- or was it shock? Either way, he didn't know how to react. Then he noticed what looked like a small, folded up square of paper tied around the base of the head. He reached his fingers out to grab the arrow, ignoring the leather binds tearing deeper into his flesh. He unfolded the paper.

 _Get out of those handcuffs. Leave the rest to us._

 _-C_

He grinned. _You son of a bitch_. He turned body from where the grounders were gathering and he brought the leather to his teeth. Furiously, he began to work the leather as if it his life depended on it. Oh, wait, it actually did. He got it to tear and a few moments later, he was free. He turned towards the tree line where the arrow had come from and scanned for a familiar face.

…

"He's free. Go," Clarke said and nudged Lincoln and Octavia's shoulders and they took off in the opposite direction. Clarke took a deep breath and stepped forward into the opening. With an arrow ready to go, she approached where the grounders were gathering around the large bonfire. Dodging between the trees, she positioned herself so that she could get a clear view of Bellamy's holding place. When she saw Lincoln and Octavia appear from atop the hill and approach the cage, she took another breath. _This better fucking work._

"EVERYONE GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND," her voice boomed. The chanting came to an abrupt stop as she stepped put from behind the tree, and every pair of Grounder eyes was staring at her. _Oh no, what now?!_ She didn't expect that to work at all. She drew her bow and aimed it in the direction of the crowd. Her face was sticky with sweat and her heart was pounding in her chest so loudly that the kids back at the drop ship could probably hear it. She glanced up the hill and saw Lincoln help Bellamy up. He snuck a glance in her direction, but his sister took his arm and lead him sprinting away. When she turned her eyes back towards the Grounders, there was a pause of silence.

" _Zog raun!_ " Lexa's voice came from somewhere amongst them. There was another pause.

They charged.


	28. Chapter 28

**Update! Enjoy! Lots of fun things are going to happen next chapter, I can't wait to post it (you're going to love it) ((I'm so excited)). And as always, thank you for your reviews, they always make my day.**

 **Tristonswife62915: Patience, my child :) Thank you for your input, I love to see what you all are thinking.**

28.

Clarke turned on her heels and ran for her life. The adrenaline coursing through her veins seemed to make everything go in slow motion as she re-entered the forest and began to hurdle over logs and overgrown roots. She wasn't afraid. She was never afraid when she was running. She felt free. Free from the Ark, from the council, from the Grounders. Free from her past...

She tore through the brush, dodging trees and ducking branches. The thundering sound of 100 Grounders' footsteps died down behind her, but there were a select few in her pursuit. She heard an arrow whiz passed her ear and plant into the trunk right next to her head. _Oh, shit._ This wasn't that fun anymore. She kicked up her speed and her blonde head was sprinting through the trees at an inhuman speed.

It was getting dark and she was beginning to get tired. Her legs were still carrying her over the ground, but her lungs began to restrict. The Grounder camp was about five miles from the camp, but only a mile from the river.

 _The river!_

The Grounders were terrified of the river and its many dangers, like good ol' Jaws that attacked both Clarke and Octavia just weeks before. Clarke, not so much. She'd been in and out of the treacherous water a countless number of times, once to save someone else's life. It would be dangerous crossing, as she would be a literal sitting duck, but if Lincoln, Octavia, and Bellamy met up with Raven and Miller and were waiting for her on the other side as planned, they could provide covering fire as she swam. _Yes, this will work._

A few moments later, the sound of running water began to drone out the footsteps of the few Grounders behind her. Her head perked up and she used the last bit of her energy to get to the river as fast as she could. The trees began to thin and suddenly, she was in the open, the riverbank just thirty feet in front of her.

"Clarke!"

The voice came from behind her. It was firm and loud, echoing through the clearing. Clarke froze in her tracks, her chest heaving up and down, her legs growing sore from the chase.

"Lexa." She recognized the voice without turning around. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she could sense an arrow being pointed straight at her spinal column.

She heard Lexa click her tongue. "You almost got away. For a moment there I thought you would."

"The day is still young," Clarke retorted.

"Yes, but right now, you're the one at arrow-point."

Clarke turned, slowly but confidently. Lexa's face was cold, angry, and intimidating as always. There was a glint in her eye... what _was_ that? Fear? "Where are the rest of your warriors, Commander?"

"Not too far behind. So don't get your hopes up. They can be here in thirty seconds if I say the word."

"That's not very fair now, is it?" Clarke tilted her head and smirked.

"I'm not very concerned with _fairness_ at the moment. I'm sure you can understand why."

"Sure, but I'm sure we can work something out."

Lexa shifted, uncertain, but then gritted her teeth in defiance. "Work what out?" she snapped

"A way for both of us to walk away from this."

"No way that's happening. Either you come with me or die right here. It's up to you."

"Then in that case, what about a duel?" The words came out of Clarke's mouth before she knew what she was saying.

"A _duel_?"

"Yup. A nice, old-fashioned duel. Just you, me, and our daggers." Clarke threw her bow and quiver to the ground and took out her blade with the engraved initials of her parents. Lexa tensed at the sudden movement. "What do ya say?"

"This is foolish. You deserve to die by a thousand cuts. My people deserve justice"

"Sounds extensive when you could make it just one."

"Tempting. But I refuse."

Clarke was suddenly full of rage. She tightened her jaw and raised her voice. "I did what I had to do to save the life of one of my people. Lexa, you must understand that."

"I think you're the one misunderstanding this situation. By helping Bellamy escape, you started a war that your people have no hopes of winning. So you tell me, Clarke. Is the life of one worth the sacrifice of many?"

"Bellamy's life is." It was. In every way imaginable, it was. At least it was to Clarke.

Lexa raised an eyebrow. "I misjudged you. You are not the leader I thought you were. You are weak."

"No. You're the weak one."

"Am I?"

"You don't know kindness. You don't know mercy or compassion or love. And, frankly, I'd feel sorry for you, but you were about to kill my friend tonight. So fuck you."

Lexa smiled. "I changed my mind, Clarke. You will walk away from this. We both will. But I will see you on the battlefield. And I will make you pay for your crimes. You can count on that." With that, she turned and disappeared back into the trees.

…

"She said that to you?" Bellamy asked when they had finally rendezvoused with everyone on the other side of the river.

"Yup, it was really ominous. At least, I think she meant it to be."

Bellamy and Raven chuckled. "You're one lucky motherfucker, Clarke," she said. "You are too, Bellamy."

"You can say that again," Octavia said.

Miller and Lincoln were quietly walking alongside the group, both brooding their usual, broody selves. He would have denied it, but Miller was overjoyed to see Bellamy alive and back in the hands of his friends. Even the ever-so-calm Lincoln had given Bellamy a quick embrace and endearing nudge on the shoulder.

Clarke was exhausted, but she was determined to make it back to the drop ship before it got too late.

"You okay, Princess?" Bellamy asked.

Her face was flushed white. "Yeah, just a bit worn out from sprinting a mile straight."

"That's nothing," he joked.

"I'd like to see you try it, Blake."

He chuckled. "Yeah, no. You got me there."

She grinned and looked down. Was she… _blushing? Oh, God._

"How far are we from the ship?" Miller asked.

"About a half-mile," Lincoln said and paused. "You know, you really should take Lexa's threat more seriously, Clarke."

Octavia glanced over and saw Clarke clench her jaw. "I think she gets it, Lincoln."

"I'm just saying, you shouldn't take what the Commander says lightly."

"Octavia's right. I get it," Clarke said with a sudden serious tone.

Lincoln glanced over his shoulder at the blonde and a pang of empathy swept through him. He knew she had a lot on her shoulders. There's no way she wasn't at least a bit concerned about what was happening. He decided he'd continue this conversation a bit later when her head was functioning properly.

Raven didn't quite get the memo. "So what's next? We can't attack them, let alone even defend ourselves against their attack."

"We relocate," Bellamy answered.

"Move camp?" Miller asked. "We'll be sitting ducks in the open like that."

"Where would we even go?" Raven asked.

"We can talk about this later, guys," Octavia intervened. She shot Bellamy a look and motioned at the pale faced-Clarke

None of them said something that wasn't already on Clarke's mind. Her mind hadn't stopped racing since her encounter with Lexa. _What are we going to do? What_ the fuck _are we going to do?_ It took everything for her to hold it together until they reached the gates of camp.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, there was a strange uneasiness in the air. Everyone was in their tent except for Finn, Monty, and Jasper who were standing by the fire pit. Clarke brushed past Lincoln and marched over to them.

"Where is everyone? What's going on?" Raven asked before the words could even reach Clarke's tongue.

Monty and Jasper just stared at the ground, avoiding eye contact. Finn looked like he was going to throw up. Or yell. Or burst into tears. Clarke couldn't recognize the emotion on his face, but she knew it wasn't good. "Follow me," he said.

"Finn, what the hell happened?" Bellamy demanded, his voice firm with concern.

Finn shot him a look and didn't answer. He led them to the drop ship and they came face to face with the last person Clarke thought she'd ever see. Her heart froze in her chest and her eyes widened.

"Jaha."


	29. Chapter 29

**So how bout that season 3 premiere?! Here's a new chapter in honor of the whole cast's amazing performances (specially Bob, Eliza, Devon, and Lindsey). I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait until the Bellarke reunion. But yeah, I appreciate all the feedback- every time I update there's more responses and it's just great! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

29.

"Clarke," the Chancellor said. "It's nice to finally see you in person. I believe we have some things to discuss."

Clarke clenched her slacked jaw. She looked around at the dozens of people crammed into the small ship. There were probably dozens more in the top two floors as well, but it was only a fraction of those that were on the Ark. She shook her head, confused. "The Exodus ship crashed. All on board were killed."

"Unfortunately, the former Chancellor, Diana Sydney, stole that ship for herself and left us for dead."

"How the fuck did she manage to pull that off?" Bellamy asked.

"There was an explosion aboard the ship set up by her as a distraction."

"Where are the rest of the people from the Ark?" Finn asked.

"The other 2 landing crafts must have about 400 people each. They must have landed somewhere farther off." He paused and shifted uncomfortably. "Also, there was an oxygen shortage aboard the Ark. We had to… 320 people died to save the rest of us."

"Unfortunate," Clarke said plainly.

"Yes, many lives were lost that day-."

"Chancellor, I don't mean to be rude, but you're not the only ones who've lost people. We have eleven dead and counting. And we're about to have a crisis on our hands if we don't act quickly." Clarke thought back to when they lost the first one to an infection. She dug a grave for him right next to Wells.

"What kind of crisis?" Councilman Kane asked.

"The war kind," she answered.

"War? With _who_? There's no one here but us." Kane asked.

Raven and Bellamy chuckled. "If you really believe that, you have a big storm coming, my friend," Clarke said, failing to keep her own amusement out of her voice.

"Perhaps we should discuss this more privately," Jaha said as he glanced around at all the faces staring at them. He narrowed his eyes at Clarke and she returned the glare.

She turned on a heel and followed Bellamy to his tent. Kane, Jaha, and Sinclair stood opposite Raven, Finn, and Bellamy while Clarke took up the end of the table which had the map that Clarke and Lincoln drew what seemed like ages ago.

"How did this 'war' situation come to be?" Kane asked.

"Long story short," Raven started, "they tried to attack us, we blew them up, then we tried to make peace with them, but they took Bellamy prisoner, so we rescued him."

"They weren't too happy about that," Clarke said. "So their Commander said something along the lines of 'this is war'."

"I can't believe this," Kane said.

"You've been down here for what? Two months? And already you have a war on your hands?" Jaha scolded them.

"Well, some longer than others," Clarke said as she glared into Jaha's eyes. "Or did you forget that you wanted to send a group of _kids_ to their deaths until I stepped in?"

"Clarke-."

"No, Jaha," Bellamy spoke up. "You don't have a right to say anything about what Clarke did. Besides, we have a bigger problem right now besides your ego. We're the ones with the information that could save all of our lives. So shut the fuck up and listen."

Clarke locked eyes with him and fought back a huge grin. She nodded, silently thanking him. He smiled at her, but his eyes said something else. _We need to talk._

"He's right. As much as I want to do this now, we can have our airing of grievances later." She saw Lincoln and Octavia silently enter the room. "Lincoln, how long until they attack?"

The three men looked to their right and saw the dark, massive Grounder standing in the doorway. His presence startled them, as they've never seen anything like it.

"Two days. They have to call on the smaller Trikru clans that are spread out across this land."

"Who's he?" Kane asked, still shocked.

"This is Lincoln. He's one of us," Clarke said. She saw Octavia squeeze his hand as she quietly smiled at Clarke's words. The three council members were at a loss for words.

Lincoln stepped closer to the map and started moving his hands across the table in accordance with his words. "They would have all congregated back their city, here. There's about ten miles of separation between them and us. When they march, they will try to flank us from the west and southwest."

"So what are we going to do?" Finn asked.

"Well, since the Ark people are here, out numbers are up. But they're still untrained to fight," Octavia pointed out.

"The other two ships have landed a ways away from here," Kane said.

"Do we have a location on them, Sinclair?" Jaha asked.

"Not yet. Just radio silence."

Jaha pondered the information for a while. "Send search parties out in the directions we think they are. Kane start organizing-."

"Whoa, hold on there asshole," Clarke said. Raven snorted while the other delinquents managed to bite back their laughter. Even Lincoln snickered at the remark. "There's no way you're risking more of our people's lives on a whim."

"What did you just call me?" Jaha asked, astounded at the lack of disrespect.

"Asshole?"

"How dare you-."

"I advise you not to finish that sentence, Chancellor."

Jaha was beside himself. He'd never witnessed such insubordination in all his years of being a politician.

"Clarke, that's enough," Kane said, his own voice shaky with uncertainty.

"Alright, I think we have to set a few ground rules. Up there, you might have been the Chancellor. You might have been councilmen. But down here, _none of that matters._ None. Down here, it's about survival. Not politics. So until we can have a proper election when _all_ of our people are safe and the Grounders are dealt with. I'm in charge."

"How dare you," Jaha said.

"No. How dare _you_. My father was one of your friends! My mother trusted you! And you floated them! And for what? They were trying to do the right thing and you blundering idiots couldn't see passed your goddamn rulebook to recognize that. _You_ deserved to die. Not Jake. Or Abby. Or Wells. Or anyone that died as a result of _your_ mistakes. If you have a problem with me, or Bellamy, or the way we run things down here, get the fuck out of my camp. We are at war. And only the ones who've been down here the longest know how to win. So are we done?"

Jaha's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he visibly shrunk in size. Kane and Sinclair both looked at him warily. Jaha glanced up at Clarke but then his eyes darted back to the Ground.

Clarke leaned on the table and mentally high-fived Raven who was giving her a "hell-yeah" look. "Great. So what are our options?"

"Well we can stay here and fight, or we can pack up and leave," Bellamy said.

"What about the other two ships?" Finn asked.

"We can't deal with them right now. We don't have the manpower," Clarke said.

"We can't abandon them," Kane said.

Clarke looked at him and nodded. "I know."

"Then we stay," Finn said.

"We don't stand a chance against them, Clarke," Lincoln said. "We must leave."

"No, we can't leave the others out there," Kane argued.

"We don't even know where 'there' is, Kane," Bellamy retorted. "Our main concern should be our own."

"That's not right."

"But killing three hundred twenty of your own people is? Or what about sending a hundred kids to their deaths? Or floating our parents?" Bellamy's face was hot with defiance.

"This is about survival, like Clarke said," Kane started. "What happened on the Ark is in the past. We need to start securing our future."

"He's right, that's enough. Both of you." Clarke said. "Kane, we can't go get them right now. But we will as soon as we win this fight."

"Clarke, this is a mistake," Bellamy said.

"No, she's right," Raven said. "We need to stay here and do this. We can't run."

"What the hell are we going to do then?" Finn said.

Clarke synched her eyebrows together in deep thought. _Shit, what_ are _we gonna do?_ Then, she got an idea.

"Raven, is there still fuel in the drop ship?"

The brunette smiled as if she could read Clarke's mind. "Yeah."

"Can you blow it up?"

"I can blow up anything, Clarke."

"Then we wait for them to attack."

"What?" Kane was taken aback.

"We draw them in and blow the ship, torching them all," Clarke elaborated. "Tomorrow we get all the children, elderly, and the sick out of here. They're go east with Lincoln and Octavia. Lincoln said he knows people in that direction, is that right?"

"Yes," Lincoln said.

"We can't just leave," Octavia protested.

"O, for once can you just do what you're told?" Bellamy asked.

"You're the only once we trust to lead our people to safety," Clarke said.

Octavia clenched her jaw but agreed. "I understand."

"Thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate this."

"When do we leave?" Lincoln asked.

"Tomorrow morning. You'll need to put as much space between you and the Grounders as possible."

"And the rest of us?" Finn asked.

"We fight."

…

It was well passed midnight when Clarke finally got back to her tent. Her exhaustion didn't hit her until she climbed into her bed. Like a wave, it all hit her at once and she was nearly asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

"Clarke," Bellamy's voice said from behind her.

She groaned into the pillow. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to thank you for today."

"Any chance this could wait 'til the morning?"

"I'm afraid not." She heard the grin in his voice as she rolled over to face him. His face was slightly illuminated by the light of the fire from outside the canvas tent. Clarke resisted the sudden urge to stand up and touch his cheek.

"I'd do anything to save you- uh, to save my people. It was nothing."

"I'm just one life. You didn't have to risk yours to save me." His voice was soft.

"Too late now. Or do you want me to drag your ass back to the Grounders?"

He chuckled and shifted awkwardly. "So Jaha and Kane took over my tent."

Clarke laughed. "How did that happen exactly?"

"I offered, actually."

"Really? Wow, Blake. I never would have pinned you for the selfless type."

"I figured that they've had it rough lately. It's the least I can do to make them feel at ease, I guess."

She sat up and nodded. "Where are you sleeping then?"

"Well, I was hoping I'd bunk with Lincoln, but Octavia's spending the night there and I'd rather not be in the same room as… that." He shuttered.

"Her beds empty, why don't you take that one?"

"Really?"

"Well, yeah unless you want to sleep out under the trees."

"You don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?"

"I don't know. It's just- uh… Thanks." He cleared his throat and took off his shirt and pants to climb into bed. "Goodnight, Princess."

For once, the nickname almost sounded… endearing. "Goodnight, Bell."

He drifted to sleep to the sound of her gentle breaths as she lay dreaming of freckle-faced boys and Roman gods.


	30. Chapter 30

**Update! (Things are kind of slow this chapter, but they will pick back up again soon.) I've been really into an original project of mine, so that's why It's been a while since the last chapter. Hope you like it- review away!**

30.

The next two nights, Clarke drifted in and out of sleep like she usually did. She could hear Bellamy tossing and turning and she wondered if he had as much trouble sleeping as her. She would lay awake for a while, staring at the ceiling of the tent, wondering how the hell either of them where still alive. Both of them had come so close to death so many times and she knew that both of their luck was running thin. Even Lincoln was off his game; he couldn't tell when the attack would come. The Grounders had become unpredictable.

Clarke didn't know what to do. If this plan with blowing up the Grounders didn't work, everyone in the camp was going to die and she couldn't let that happen. That couldn't be on her head. She wondered if there was another shot at peace, but she doubted it considering how the last meeting went. She was terrified that she would fail them. No one ever said it was up to her, but no one else had decided to step up.

Except Bellamy. She knew she couldn't lead these people without him. He had a way with words that she didn't. He could make them listen, he could inspire them, he could punish them- he could do a lot of things with them that Clarke couldn't do. Maybe it was because she wasn't patient enough or because she just couldn't express her plans in ways that made people want to follow her. Either way, she didn't care. Bellamy could do what she couldn't and that's all that mattered. I can't lose him

Every now and then when her thoughts consumed her, she would roll over and stare over at him sleeping in the bed across from her. It seemed like so long ago that the 100 landed and joined her down on Earth. She could barely remember what it felt like to be alone. Maybe it was because she didn't want to remember, or maybe it was because she's just been through so much with these people. Either way, she was the closest to being happy that she's been in a while. And that's why she knew she had to protect them at all costs.

Over the past two days, they had prepared for a grounder siege. Raven and Clarke had laced the ship with the explosives, ready to burn 100+ grounders alive. Bellamy had armed most everyone with proper guns and plenty of ammo (also thanks to Raven). Those who didn't have a rifle, mainly the younger kids and elderly, had hand weapons. Bellamy prayed they would never have to use them.

There was a lot of sitting around those two days. They had stocked up on food rations and water, so they weren't inclined to venture outside the camp. So much sitting around in fact, that Clarke was getting restless.

"That's not good enough Lincoln," she snapped. They were in Bellamy's old tent in front of the map sprawled out on the table.

"Clarke, I can't give you more than this," Lincoln said, calmly.

"Think harder."

They both looked up when they heard the curtains swish open.

"Bellamy, not now," Clarke sighed.

"Lincoln, Octavia needs you on the wall," Bellamy said, eyeing Clarke carefully.

"We're kind of in the middle of something," Clarke said.

Bellamy looked at her and shrugged as Lincoln brushed passed him.

"Clarke, what's going on?"

"I'm trying to prepare for this attack. What do you think?"

"We're prepared! The explosives are ready, everyone is armed and watch, what more is there? Lincoln can't read Lexa's mind, you know."

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, frustrated. "I know. I'm just… I just need to get ready." Her voice was suddenly quiet.

"Hey, we're going to be okay. We've done everything we can to prepare. We'll make it through this," he said as he strode towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What if we don't?" She gazed up at him with sad eyes and a furrowed brow.

He clenched his jaw, uncertain of what to say. There was a small pause and he pulled her in against his chest and held her. She embraced him, burying her face into his shirt.

"I'm scared, Bell."

"Me too, Princess." They stood there for a while, holding each other, until Clarke pulled away. "It's dark out, you know."

"I know." She began to straighten the map on the table in an attempt to hide her uneasiness.

"We should get some sleep."

"Yeah, okay." They made their way to their tent. _Our tent._ Clarke didn't know how she felt about that yet.

They both changed and climbed into bed, and despite whispering a short "goodnight" to him, Clarke lay awake and stared up at the ceiling of the tent. She was so afraid. Not just of the Grounders, but of something else. She couldn't tell what it was exactly. Perhaps it was the thought of failing her people or the thought of dying. There were just so many thoughts, so many things to go wrong. Maybe they should have left. _It's too late now. This is on you, Clarke. Don't fuck this up. Don't fuck this up, don't-._

"Clarke?" she suddenly heard Bellamy whisper, snapping her away from her mantra. "Are you awake?"

She caught herself break into a smile and quietly thanked God that it was too dark for him to see her blush. "Yeah."

"Me too. I can't sleep."

"I never can."

"Me neither." There was a short silence. "Do you think I could sleep, um, with you?"

"I was hoping you'd cook me dinner first."

He chuckled, pleased that she had returned to her usual sarcastic self. "Nice one. No, I just meant that I sleep better when I'm in the same bed as someone. Octavia and I had to share a bed when we were growing up and-."

"Yeah, Bellamy, that's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just put a pillow between us. I know what happens to guys in the morning."

She heard him laugh quietly and a rustling of blankets. He climbed into bed on the other side of her.

"Sorry, no pillows to spare." He put his arm around her and pulled her back into him. At first, she tensed up, unsure of what to do. But when she realized that she was smiling from ear to ear, she relaxed into him and for a moment… she wasn't so afraid anymore.


	31. Chapter 31

**Updaté. Let me know what you think!**

31.

"Wake up, Princess," Bellamy whispered in Clarke's ear. "We have a camp to run."

The sun had just begun to rise over the mountains when both were dressed. Although their backs were turned and they were on opposite sides of the tent, Clarke thought she could still feel his breath on her neck. She brought a hand up to the tingling area and closed her eyes. But her daze quickly faded when she heard a sudden stream of panicking voices coming from outside. She whipped around and met Bellamy's eyes as they both started for the gate.

"What happened?" Bellamy asked Jasper who'd had the night watch shift.

"The Grounders had hit our scouts. Only two came back."

"Who was in the group?" Clarke asked quickly.

"Miller and Harper," Jasper said, nodding at the pair of them as they sat in pure shock. "They lost Drew, Fox… and Finn."

Bellamy's eyes were suddenly wide with fear. Clarke's entire body suddenly felt frozen. She quickly knelt down next to Harper and Miller. "I need you to tell me what happened."

"They just… came so fast," Harper said. Her skin was flushed an eyes glazed over, clearly in shock.

"We were on our way back when they got us," Miller said with a shaky voice. "They shot Fox first…. When Drew stopped to check on her, they got him too. We split up. Harper and I were able to find the camp, but Finn."

Clarke looked back at Jasper, her eyes begging for some answers. "No one's seen him."

She saw Bellamy run his hands through his hair, exasperated. He was panicking. "No more patrols," he said, loudly. "It's too risky."

"But, Bellamy-," Jasper piped up.

He suddenly stepped at him, making Jasper jolt back in surprise. "No more. Understood?"

"Are we going to look for him?" Jasper's voice was quiet, almost as a whisper.

Bellamy didn't answer him. His hands were on his hips in a silent rage, his brows synched together intently. Clarke could tell he was trying to remain as calm as possible. She locked eyes with him and she suddenly felt every emotion he was. She was furious. Determined. Afraid.

"No," she declared.

"What? Why?"

"Like Bellamy said, we can't risk more lives."

"What's going on?" _Shit._ Clarke saw Raven approaching from her tent. "Where's…"

"Raven," Jasper said, suddenly nervous.

"Finn's gone," Clarke said, her face red with anger.

"He's _gone_? What? Why are you standing around?" Raven shouted, panicking.

"Clarke said-," Jasper started.

" _I_ said," Clarke cut him off. "We can't risk that. Fox and Drew were killed."

"But he's out there!" Raven was boiling with fury.

"Raven, we can't let more of our people die," Bellamy said.

"You can't let anyone else die? Yeah? Well, _Finn's_ going to die if we don't find him."

"We can't-."

"Float you both. I'll go get him myself."

"No, Raven we need you," Clarke said.

"I don't give a shit. I-."

" _No_ , Raven." Clarke was suddenly yelling. "This isn't about you! This is about all of us. You're the only one who can blow the ship."

"So what? We can save him, but not Finn?" Raven jabbed a finger to Bellamy while taking a step closer to Clarke.

"Things are different now," Clarke said. "We weren't at war then."

"No, but we are now. Because of you. Because of _him_. This is on you, _Princess_." She curled her lips around the nickname and suddenly it was an insult. She brushed passed Clarke towards the drop-ship.

"Who ordered the scouts?" Bellamy suddenly said.

No one answered.

He turned to Miller. "Who ordered you? I thought I called off all patrols, especially overnight."

Miller looked at him for a moment, his face tense. "Jaha."

" _Jaha_? You listened to _Jaha_?"

"He told us we had to or…"

"Or what?"

"Or he would arrest us."

Bellamy took off towards his old tent, Clarke on his heels.

"Who the _fuck_ do you think you are?" he said as burst through the doorway.

"Bellamy-," Kane started.

Bellamy ignored him and Clarke watched him pick up Jaha by the collar of his shirt. "I thought we made this clear to you. You are _NOT_ in charge anymore."

"I was just-."

"We've heard enough," Clarke said. "Lock him up."

"You can't do this!" Jaha said.

"Watch me," Bellamy growled. He wrestled Jaha's hands behind his back and dragged him out of the tent.

"Clarke, what is this about?" Kane asked.

"Jaha called for a patrol against Bellamy's orders."

Kane shook his head and sighed. "I don't believe this."

"Well, that's what happened."

"I… I'm sorry."

Clarke was suddenly confused. "What do you mean?"

"He's not himself. Ever since he found out Wells died..."

"Kane, I need to ask you something." He nodded, encouraging her. "Why was my mother executed?"

"She broke the law, Clarke."

"You promised me. When my father died you swore that you would never let that happen again." She felt a lump start to rise in her throat.

"I tried. I really did." He paused and looked down. He couldn't bear to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry."

She finally understood. She knew why her mother let her father die and why Kane let her mother die. They had a duty to their people. They had to protect them at all costs, no matter their own selfish opinions. The law was the law. And the ground was the ground. Suddenly, everything she had to do was clear.

Bellamy found Clarke in their tent, kneeling on the floor, and throwing things in a bag.

"What are you doing?"

She looked up at him, but remained silent. When she picked up her knife she paused and turned it over in her hands.

 _J.G. + A.G._

"Clarke. What are you doing?"

"I have to protect them, Bellamy."

 _She's leaving._ "Don't..."

"I have to."

He clenched his jaw in denial. _Why?_ "Then I'm coming with you."

"No, they need you."

"Well, Clarke… I need _you_."

She froze. "What?"

"I- I can't let you leave. Not now."

"Bellamy, don't do this."

"Do what?"

"Don't make me change my mind. Our people are dying. They're starving. I can't let them suffer any longer because of the Grounders."

"What will you do?"

"What I should have done a long time ago."

"Where will you go?"

She turned away and rose to her feet. There was a long silence as she slung her pack over her shoulders and her knife holster into the belt loops of her pants. Her back was still facing him. "May we meet again."

Bellamy felt chills run through him. He wanted her to stay; he'd do anything to make her stay. Why was she so intent on running off? He was suddenly in front of her, their eyes locked in one final challenge. "Clarke, please." He gently took hold of her shoulders. "Stay."

She gazed at him with sad eyes. "Don't." Her voice was a whisper.

His face fell. He slowly released her arms and, without a word, he backed out of the tent, the curtains flurrying behind him as he ran to the seclusion of the drop-ship.

When he got back to their tent, she was gone.


End file.
